Steven Universe in space
by Universal lizard
Summary: After receiving a call for help from an old friend, Steven and the Crystal Gems find themselves on a mission that will take them into the depths of space. What will happen to them out there? Space holds a great many mysteries...
1. Familiar face

-And I'm back, just as I said I would be! As per usual, I do not officially claim ownership over Steven Universe, the cartoon that airs (sometimes) on Cartoon Network. The only thing I claim to own are my own OCs.-

* * *

"And there you go! Clean as a whistle!" Steven announced. From the open driver's window, Buck Dewey looked out and down at the outside of his car.

"Thanks," he nodded.

"No problem, it was our pleasure!" Connie said while drying her own hands with the towel she held. Buck stretched his arm out and handed a small handful of cash into Greg's hands.

"Come back anytime!" he said, and Buck drove off.

"Look at that, my hands are all prune-y and suds-y!" Steven held his hands up before rinsing them off in the hose's running water.

"Ah, what a finish. Thanks for the help, you two. I think we got this done faster with you helping out," Greg said, then turned to notice the setting sun, "But I think it's starting to get late. I didn't make you stay out too late, did I Connie?"

"Well, Mother did say that my curfews could be extended, but only in the name of charity and community service," she replied, "And I'd say helping out a friend's father at his legitimate business counts!"

"Okay, well I should at least get you back home. Tell ya what, let me just get my band equipment squared away in the back, and I'll give you a lift."

"Thank you, Mr. Universe!" Connie said, and Greg disappeared into the back of his van. It was around this time that all of Beach City soon became bathed in the beautiful bright orange light of the late afternoon sun. With some time to themselves, Steven and Connie sat down at the edge of the sidewalk and watched the sunset.

"Wow, who knew washing cars could actually be a decent workout?" Connie said, rubbing her arm. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Steven's face, but noticed the more thoughtful look that he had on. She came to know this face- a face that said he had something important on his mind, "Steven? Everything alright?"

"Huh?" he said, his thoughts clearly interrupted, "Oh yeah, I was just thinking about..."

"About?" Connie asked.

"... Connie, do you ever think about what happened two months ago? You know with the-"

"The invasion?" Steven nodded, "Steven, how could I not think of it? I think everyone in town can't forget something like that! How you and the Crystal Gems saved us and-"

"And how you were almost killed?" Steven morbidly finished.

"Well... yeah, there was that," Connie admitted, "But don't beat yourself up over that; everybody is still alive and walking!"

"But you almost weren't!" Steven protested, "Those drone things almost killed you, Dad, and all of our friends! You were all in trouble, and I had left you alone!"

"But we had Lion and Amethyst with us, remember?" Connie said, "And Steven... I don't blame you for what you did; Garnet was in trouble, and it was very brave of you to rush in to help her."

"Yeah... but," Steven replied, rising to his feet, as did Connie, "Well I say from here on out, I won't let something like this happen again; any friend of mine in ANY kind of trouble, I will do everything I can to help them!"

"That's great Steven," Connie put her hand on his shoulder, "Just don't overwork yourself, okay? You know what they say about 'opening the window too wide?'"

"Ummm..." Steven blinked once, then twice, "No, what?"

"That... oh, never-mind." The sound of two honks behind them drew their attention.

"Okay kiddos, pile in!" Greg called out.

"Okay Dad, we're-" A familiar sound cut him off. To their left a pink image of a portal formed, and the large body of Lion jumped through. It stood before them and looked down at the two kids.

"Lion? What are you doing here?" Steven asked. The feline said nothing, except for paw at the ground twice.

"Is that Lion?" Greg called out, "Why is he here?"

"He's... I think he's trying to tell us something..." Connie said, then cocked her head at Lion, "Is that it?" It swished its mane around in a showy manner before it turned its head in a direction. It looked out towards the beach-line at the setting sun.

"Wait a minute..." Steven followed its gaze, "The beach? No, the temple! Do the Crystal Gems want to show me something, so they sent you?" Lion closed its eyes and bowed its head, which for the three humans was as good as any nod, "Guys, we should totally go check it out!"

"I... "Connie looked down at the watch on her wrist, "suppose if we move quickly."

"I dunno if I can drive fast enough to-" Lion's roar cut Greg off, and he looked up to see another pink portal had been created, "Oh... right, that works."

"Let's go then!" Steven rushed to the van and climbed in the back. Once all the doors were shut the van drove forward through the portal, Lion following right behind them.

* * *

The trip was instantaneous, and the three humans found themselves in the van now on the beach. With Lion jumping through right behind them, the portal vanished in a snap.

Looking around, nothing at all was out of the ordinary. The beach itself was in relatively good shape, save for the scrapes that ran along the ground from the water. And no one else was around, well, no other human.

"Hey guys!" Steven called out of the open window. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were seen on the sandy beach. They looked like they were studying something within the circle they were forming, when Steven's voice caught their attention.

"See? There he is now!" Amethyst pointed out.

"Ah, Steven! There you are!" Pearl said as the three humans gathered around, "Oh and hello to you, Connie."

"Hello, Pearl," Connie greeted, "Good to see you again!"

"So, Lion here said you have something important?" Steven said, when he noticed suddenly a sort of deep, humming sound, "Wait... what's that sound?"

"Eh? See Pearl? I told you that big fur ball could do it!" Amethyst nudged her elbow at Pearl.

"Yes, well," Pearl replied, "While I doubt Lion here 'told' you, per se, there is something important..."

"What is it?" Greg asked. Garnet stepped to the side and indicated with her outstretched hand. It was a familiar pedestal, with a pillow stuffed into a familiar cavity, "Isn't that-?"

"The Wailing Stone," Garnet said, "Someone is trying to send another message."

"It suddenly went off again, and we nearly had to stuff two pillows into it," Amethyst exclaimed, "Ugh, I'm getting such a headache!"

"Another message?" Steven said, "Cool! And Dad, it's a good thing you and the van are here; we can find out who's calling us!"

"Yeah..." Greg looked up at the gems, "Maybe I can help you out with this, again?"

"Couldn't ask for more," Garnet smiled and adjusted her visor.

"Um, I'm kinda lost here, what is that?" Connie spoke up.

"Huh? Oh, Connie! That's right, you've never seen this before!" Steven exclaimed, "Well here, we'll all show you what this thing does."

"Excellent," Pearl clapped her hands before her face in approval, "Now Amethyst, could you move the-"

"Oh come on, why do I have to carry this stupid thing..." Amethyst exasperatingly said to herself. She had lifted the entire apparatus upon her shoulder and moved to the back of the van, the others following behind. Greg opened up the back doors, crawled inside, and starting assembling the equipment needed.

"So what is this thing?" Connie said, "Some kind of noise-maker?"

"Not just any noise-maker, Connie," Pearl said, "The Wailing Stones were at one point a massive communication network! The Rebellion used hundreds of them to link with each other instantly, on this very planet!"

"Really?" Connie watched Steven and Greg work, "Is it all through that noise it's making?"

"Argh, speaking of that noise, it's still driving me nuts!" Amethyst said.

"We're almost done here..." Greg called out while plugging in the final wires to his mixer, "Okay Steven, plug 'er in!"

"Roger!" Steven plugged the cord into the T.V. Just like before, a more pleasant, melodious tune of notes flowed from the television, while the screen itself only showed static.

"Hmmm..." With prior experience this time, Greg pushed and turned the knobs much more quickly and efficiently, and the static was much more quick to fade to a pure blue screen like before, "I think I definitely got it this time..." In a flash, the image of blue changed drastically to one of a single, yellow humanoid figure.

"Whoa! It's-" Greg said.

"Spodumene!" Steven exclaimed.

"Spodumene?" Pearl said, "Why is she contacting us?"

"This is an outgoing intergalactic message to be received by Earth," Spodumene spoke with what sounded like a mix of cordiality and urgency, "Greetings to you, Steven."

"This is so crazy weird..." Connie said to herself.

"I hope this message finds you well, and I further hope you and your Crystal Gem compatriots are also well," Spodumene continued, "I am contacting you at this time because of... recent developments. I have a favor to ask of you, assistance even, one that I do hope to hear a response to in the future."

"Help?" Amethyst asked, "What could she need help with?"

"However, I'm afraid I cannot disclose the specifics of my request over this channel, due to the rather... sensitive nature," Spodumene continued, almost as if she had heard Amethyst, "And I have a feeling that the people of your planet would be less than welcoming to find one of my kind returning there."

"That is an understatement," Pearl commented.

"That being said, in the event you see fit to reply to this message, then Earth's lunar base would be a suitable location to do so. Message concluded; end transmission." The message, and the harsh sound of static and black and white filled the screen again. For a moment, there was silence between everyone, each one feeling something different.

"That..." Connie said, "That sounded like an S.O.S to me."

"It did, didn't it? A friend of ours needs the help that only we can give!" Steven looked at the Crystal Gems, "Um... am I right, or what?"

"Steven..." Garnet said, "You heard where she wanted us to reply to her message, right?"

"The lunar base?" Steven asked, "The... Moon Base?!" his eyes widened a little as he slowly began to realize the implication, "that would mean going-"

"You are not taking another shuttle into space!" Greg suddenly cut in. Everyone was caught off guard by the sudden assertion in his voice, "Seriously, once was enough!"

"Greg, I understand your concern, but-" Pearl said, but Greg's reply was to cross his arms and look out at the sun-less horizon, "It was all a huge miscalculation on my part!"

"Wait, you also tried to go to space?" Connie asked, "Seriously?!"

"Yeah," Steven softly said, "Pearl really wanted to go back to Crystarra that time, so we built a rocket ship out of stuff we found in the barn and-"

"And nearly got blown up in the sky," Amethyst finished, earning her a look from everyone else, "What? It happened!"

"Well I don't care," Greg said patting a hand on Steven's head, "You're my little goofball, the only one I've got in this world. I can't lose you."

"Dad-"

"He is right, Steven," Connie said, looking away at the ground, "Space is dangerous, especially for us humans. You'd be putting yourself at great risk doing this!"

"Greg, Connie," Garnet spoke up, "I agree with you. I agree that there are serious dangers involved with space travel. And I agree that building ramshackle spaceships is also a reckless idea," she cast a look off to Pearl which she could instantly tell was a glare, "That is why, if we 'were' to do this... we would be warping there."

"Warp? To the moon?" Amethyst said, "How long have we been able to warp to the moon whenever we wanted?!"

"There has never been a need to," Pearl replied, "Nothing salvageable from the days of the rebellion could still be up there."

"Whatever, I'll just add this to the list of things I was never told..." Amethyst resigned while giving her belly a quick scratch.

"Amethyst..." Pearl tried to think of words of assurance, but they escaped her.

"So..." Greg said in his uneasy tone, "You can warp to the moon, and there's no chance you'll be blown up?"

"Well, there's-" Pearl started, but a very quick look from Garnet immediately cut her off, "No Greg, there is no chance of being 'blown up'."

"And you know what?" Garnet added while putting a hand on his shoulder, "This time, the three of us would be with him, at all times, keeping him safe." Greg's uneasy gaze constantly shifted between everyone present, and occasionally at the moon that was now shining clear in the night sky. Finally he gave a deep sigh,

"Alright, if you promise me that you'll stay absolutely safe... you have my permission."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Yes!" Steven fist pumped.

"Hold it," Greg held a palm up, "I want their promise as well," he looked at the three gems, "I want you three to promise me that you will keep him safe."

"Sure thing Greg, we promise," Amethyst held her palm up as a promissory salute.

"You have our word, right?" Garnet said, while looking at Pearl.

"Yes, of course, he will be safe with us," Pearl replied as well.

"Wait, Steven?" Connie said, stepping up close to him, "I guess if you're really going, then... well..." After hesitation from trying to find the right words, she instead quickly embraced him in her arms. Steven was surprised, but nonetheless returned the hug, "Make sure you do come back to us in the end. You're my best friend."

"I'll be back, Connie, I promise," Steven said, releasing his arms to pull away.

"Okay okay, my turn now," Connie stepped to the side as Greg went down to Steven's level on one knee. The two also shared a big embrace.

"I love you, Steven... be safe."

"I love you too, Dad." The two then finally broke apart, "Right so, I guess we should get going?"

"Alright!" Amethyst said. With that, the group made their way across the sandy beach and up the beach-house steps inside. The Crystal Gem group stepped onto the pad, and Steven noticed Lion still moving as if to join them.

"No Lion, not this time," he said, stopping Lion in his tracks. The creature gave no visible facial expression, but Steven still assumed it felt disappointment, "You've gotta stay here and keep watch here on Earth!" Lion looked to its side at the two humans in the room, and it bowed its head with closed eyes. Connie took it as a sign to quickly give the head a pat.

"Don't worry about us, Steven; we'll be fine, just waiting for you to get back," she said.

"Yeah, as fine as you can be when your son leaves..." Greg added.

"Don't worry, Dad," Steven raised his crossed arms in front of him, "We'll be back!" He quickly spread them apart in an arm-sweep motion, and the teleport beam activated. The room was filled with its light, and the form of the Crystal Gems vanished along with it.

"And there he goes..." Greg said, "Honestly, I didn't think he would leave me until his college days..."

"Don't worry, Mr. Universe," Connie said, "He'll help Spodumene, and then he'll return straight to us, I have faith in him."

"Return... Return!" Greg's eyes widened in realization, "Oh man, Connie! I forgot I was bringing you home! What time is it?! Quick, let's get going before your parents have my head, or-!" The sound of a familiar roar got their attention. Connie and Greg turned to see that Lion had again roared a portal into existence, "Right, that also works. Careful Lion, if you keep doing what you're doing, you might end up replacing Steven as my son!" Both shared a laugh as they stepped through the portal.


	2. The request

In a flash, where the light was surrounding and blinding, it suddenly became pitch black. The three gems stood unaffected by the light transition, but Steven found himself rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, it's so dark now!" he said, "Why is it so dark?"

"Check it out, Steven," Amethyst said, "We made it." The boy stopped rubbing his eyes for a moment to finally take in his surroundings.

"Wow...!" While slowly adjusting to the darkness, Steven gazed upon where he and the gems stood. A massive, circular shaped stone chamber that stretched for nearly one hundred feet wide across, with a ceiling that extended even taller than that. Finally adjusted, he could see that the walls and even the ground were decorated with strange carvings of different shapes and symbols.

"Steven, and I suppose Amethyst as well, I present to you the Lunar base!" Pearl announced with her usual grandiose tone.

"It looks a lot like the underwater base we visited," Steven said.

"Indeed," Pearl replied while moving a hand to the wall close to her, "Everything looks so ancient, but so well preserved."

Amethyst walked along the wall away from the group, and noticed a panel on the wall about the same size as her hand, "Hey, what's this do?"

The moment she placed her hand on it, what turned out to be a blast door shot down to open a doorway, and the room was filled with the loud sound of air rushing out.

"AHHH!" Steven cried out as he suddenly was lifted off the ground, but thankfully was held in place by Garnet's outstretched hand. A solid second went by as Amethyst stood there, seemingly unaffected by the rush of vacuum struggling to take her. Finally she placed her hand back on the panel, and the blast-door snapped shut again.

"I found the exit! Just so you know!" she declared.

"Amethyst! Could you please not shoot us into space?!" Pearl exclaimed.

"Whoa guys! Check me out!" Everyone turned to Steven to find that he was making jumps that quite higher than usual, "It's like I'm jumping without even trying!"

"Hey, let me try that!" Amethyst said, however her attempt at a jump ended with her falling flat on her belly, "What the what?! Why can't I do that?"

"Us gems adapt to the gravity of anything we stand on, remember?" Garnet pointed out.

"Wow, gravity's kind of a buzzkill," Amethyst crossed her arms in front of her.

"Steven! You shouldn't do that!" Pearl watched the boy literally about to bounce off the wall.

"Okay then, Pearl, I'll just come down NOWWW!" Steven called out as he kicked himself from the wall straight to the floor. Quickly he held his hands in front of him to end up in a perfect hand-stand, "Ta-DA!"

"Nice finish, little man!" Amethyst said, "And look, even the floor liked it!"

"Huh?" a confused Steven looked down at where he stood on his hands. What he saw was a bright glowing color of light blue, in the shape of a long rectangle, "Whoa!" In his surprise he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground... or would have until Garnet easily reached down with one hand to catch him.

"Whew, thanks Garnet," she let him go so that he could regain his feet. Steven then turned around to see what exactly was on the ground. It turned out this rectangle shape in the ground was one of many that outlined then entire perimeter of the room they were in. All were equal in shape, but this one was still glowing its light blue color.

"What did I do-?" Just then all the rectangles on the opposite side of the group began to rise in the air, one above the other. They all rose in sequential order until it was obvious what they now formed.

"Looks like we go up from here, nice work!" Amethyst said.

"Good job, Steven," Garnet added, "Alright everyone, stick together and be careful."

"Gotcha!" Steven mock saluted, and the three gems followed him as he continued his moon-jumps even up these steps. As they ascended higher up the stairs, Amethyst started to see larger carvings upon the walls closer to the ceiling.

"So... why is there even a base here on the moon?" she casually asked.

"Well, it was common procedure for the Authority to establish bases on any planet's moon, provided they had one," Pearl explained, "It was the first step in establishing a monitoring presence of the planet, yet still be able to send clear transmissions back to the home world."

"If the Rebellion was to succeed, then the link to Crystarra had to be severed, Rose knew this, we knew this," Garnet said, "So we overthrew the enemy here, took over this base, then waged the war itself on Earth." The four now reached the very top of the risen steps and past the ceiling, and found themselves looking into a new room. The contrast from near pitch black to light was stunning. This room had a large, circular shaped clear dome for a ceiling that provided them with not only a 360 degree view of the space around them, but of the planet Earth itself.

"Wow, look at that," Steven said, "Earth looks so beautiful from here!"

"Yes it does... I suppose," Pearl noted, then turned her head to the center of the room, "Oh, but here we are!" She walked up to what looked like a stone altar in the center of the room, "This must be what we're looking for!"

"This... stone table?" Amethyst asked.

"It's not a 'table'," Pearl corrected, "It's a control console, and our only means of contacting Spodumene!"

"Okay then, smarty-pants!" Amethyst dramatically replied, "Then how do we get it working?" Pearl stared at the console with her hands raised for a full beat, until she dropped them to her sides,

"I haven't the faintest idea."

"Hey look here! Another one of those things to stick your hand on!" The three gems turned around to see Steven sitting in a very large chair, his hand placed over a familiar panel, "But... why is nothing happening?"

"What, Steven? Let me see that," Pearl suggested.

"Oh, okay," the boy jumped down out of the seat. Pearl took his spot and placed her own hand on the hand print, and the chair slowly slid forward until her legs hardly had any room to kick forward. The console before her now began to glow, revealing a variety of options.

"Ah, there we are," Pearl said, "Now then..." her eyes skimmed over the options now open to her.

"We need to find something that will get us in contact with Spodumene," Garnet reminded.

"Alright, let's try this..." Pearl's fingers pressed a couple buttons before her, and a wide, blue screen appeared above them, as well as a visual representation of a set of files. She selected the file second to the right side, and the image instantly changed. The group now saw what looked like a recording of someone in view, looking down and working her fingers over something.

"Hey! There she is again; Spodumene!" Steven said. Suddenly, the imaged of the fusion-born turned her head, obviously having heard the boy, and her expression showed one of surprise.

"Steven?" she moved in closer, "Steven, it is you? You've responded to my message!"

"That's why we're here, Spodes," Amethyst smiled.

"Of course we responded!" Steven said, "You sounded like you were in trouble!"

"In trouble... Yes, that would be an accurate assumption," Spodumene said.

"Spodumene, what's going on?" Pearl asked, "Why have you called for us- no, specifically," she gestured to the boy, "why have you called for Steven's help?"

"Ah, where to begin," Spodumene said with a sigh, "I suppose I should start at the beginning."

"Best place to start..." Amethyst said under her breath.

"You see, ever since the incident a while ago, things had been peaceful here on Crystarra... well, relatively peaceful. Until recently..." Spodumene held up her right upper arm, which was encased in some sort of arm-shaped mechanical contraption. She pressed her fingers on top of it, and a holographic 3-D model of a round object appeared above it in rotation.

"Crystarra..." Pearl said. As the image rotated, several red points dotted the planet's image, which Garnet found herself leaning forward towards.

"I know those points..." she said, "Pearl do you see? Those are where the Crystal Spires are located."

"Yes, you're right!" Pearl agreed.

"A short time ago, something happened to them. They have been activated in an unprecedented manner," Spodumene pressed on her arm device one more time, and the 3-D image changed. This time the planet showed each of the points being connected a neighboring one by purple lines, "Resulting in this- highly volatile electricity, effectively encasing the entire planet in an intricate web."

"There was little to no warning when it started happening. The order for planet-wide evacuation was given but... many gems didn't escape..."

"Still, why should this concern us, Spodumene?" Pearl asked, "If you recall, we don't reside on that planet anymore, do we?"

"But I do, Pearl!" Spodumene insisted, "and so do thousands of other gems, be they whole or destroyed! And besides... I had a feeling you would feel skeptical, which is why there is another detail I'm prepared to reveal..." As she talked, she deactivated the imaged of the planet, "We have a lead on who might be responsible for this..." Another image took form, showing a humanoid figure. It was heavily cloaked in a strange cloth where not even its face could be identified each time the still image rotated.

"Who... who could that be?" Steven said.

"Whoever it is, this figure is an enemy to all gems," Spodumene closed the display of the figure, "Our old gem law dictates that tampering with the function of the Crystal Spires is absolutely forbidden, something that not even former gem leader Diamond is an exception to. Now the current gem government is forced to take decisive action against this perpetrator..."

"And... what, you're calling on us to help us with a problem that doesn't really affect us?" Pearl's voice was still one with skepticism.

"Pearl, all of you," Spodumene continued, "No one understands your situation more than me. I know why you left to follow Rose, and eventually rebelled. But you have to understand... those days, of being branded as outlaws by Diamond are long past. There is now no reason to avoid us out of... fear! I'm not asking you to abandon one planet, but rather to help another. Surely even you must feel some sort of... obligation, to the place that you, me, and the ones you once called ally came from?" Everyone was silent for a few moments, while casting looks at each other.

"I... I..." Pearl said, "N-No! Steven and the planet Earth are our responsibility now, don't you understand?"

"What?" Steven protested, "Come on, Pearl, why not-"

"Yeah seriously, why not, Pearl?" Amethyst demanded, surprising all with her tone, "All because of where she lives we're not helping her?!"

"Amethyst it's- it's more complicated than that!"

"No, no it isn't!" Amethyst cried out, "It is not 'complicated'! Spodumene is our friend and we should help her! Think about it, Rose taught us to always help out our friends!"

"But Rose is not here! We need to accept the fact that she's-"

"I don't care!" Amethyst nearly shouted, while shaking one fist in the air, "Stop reminding us that she isn't here!" Her's and Pearl's angry faces continued to stare at each other, even as Garnet put her hands between the two.

"That is enough," she ordered rather quietly. Amethyst took one step back, which seemed to remind her where she was. Turning away, she crossed her arms over her chest and casually let one of her hands rub her stomach.

"Funny, Rose first taught us to help our friends back then," the purple gem spoke much softer, "But you know who's teaching that to us today?" Before Pearl could voice an answer, she saw Amethyst point to the only human in the room. Steven was caught off guard by the gesture, and stared awkwardly between the two gems.

"I-uh, well I mean," he said, "What she said."

"G-Garnet?" Pearl turned to the crimson gem, who pushed her visor up along the bridge of her nose with a long sigh. Finally, she looked back at Pearl.

"It's not a bad idea."

"Wha-?!" Pearl exclaimed.

"Yes! Alright!" Steven cheered.

"Hmph, I knew it," Amethyst said quietly.

"Garnet, why?" Pearl stammered, "We can't possibly, with the Earth, and Steven, the space, and-"

"We need to face facts, Pearl, just like you yourself said," Garnet spoke, "I was there when Steven defeated Diamond, so trust me when I say that he is ready. And even if you think he still wasn't, the three of us would still be with him. Remember our promise we made to Greg?"

"Keep him safe..." Pearl said, then sadly sighed with a nod, "You're right, Garnet. And you too, Amethyst," Amethyst looked up with hope-filled eyes, "You're also right."

"... Thanks Pearl," the purple gem said in a much lighter tone of voice.

"Alright Spodumene, we'll help you."

"Really?" Spodumene said, to which Garnet nodded, "Well then, I'm pleased that we've come to an agreement. I'm very grateful in your decision to help; in fact..." As she spoke with a smile, Spodumene pressed more buttons on the console in front of her. The screen above them suddenly exited, as the entire holographic display. The sound of stone scraping against stone was heard behind them, and the four spun behind them to see another doorway opening. A familiar yellow-skinned four-armed gem walked through, "You could say I was expecting it."

"What? Spodumene? You're already here!" Steven rushed over to her, the other gems right behind her.

"Good to see you again, Steven," Spodumene said, "and you three as well."

"Wait, wait a minute," Pearl said, still gracing a comically confused look on her face, "How did you get here that fast?"

"Well I wouldn't say the trip itself was fast," Spodumene replied, "I mean the approximate local time when involving light-year travel usually-"

"No no no," Pearl waved her hands in front of her, "That's not what I mean. I mean were you seriously there this entire time?"

"Well... yes."

"Just waiting there so you could dramatically appear before us?"

"Yes again, though I'm uncertain about the 'dramatic' part." As the realization sunk in, Amethyst suddenly began bursting out laughing, Garnet failed to keep an amused grin off her face, and Steven was still struggling to figure out what exactly was the problem.

"But-but... WHY?!" Pearl finally exclaimed, "We could have said 'Sorry Spodumene but we can't help you with you want right now', then what?!"

"I, I don't understand," Spodumene said, her face now showing genuine confusion, "I requested your assistance, and with something of the greatest importance, so why would you deny it?" Finally, Pearl let out an exasperated sigh of defeat.

"Spodumene, I'm afraid things like this work a little differently on Earth, you see-"

"Um, hello?" Amethyst announced, "Are we gonna get going, or what?"

"Yeah, it's time for our Space Field Trip!" Steven added.

"Spodumene, Pearl," Garnet said, trying and failing to keep a chuckle out of her voice, "we should really get going."

"Of course, please enter and have a seat in any available chair," Spodumene's gesturing left arms led them through the doorway. Once they passed, the stone door closed tightly behind them. Shortly after, a small shuttle that was attached to the outside of the Lunar Base detached itself and shot upwards into the stars' embrace.


	3. Space Field Trip

"Now then, before anything else, perhaps this will be needed..." Spodumene walked up to the chair where Steven was sitting in, and held a small item before him, "Here Steven, put this... around your neck."

"What is this?" Steven took the item and inspected it closer. It was some sort of collar with a buckle, and a pale red rectangle in the middle that was to be seen in the front.

"Being an organic life-form, there is no guarantee there will always be adequate air for breathing," Spodumene explained, "This device was designed to capture air particles in a small containment field for study, yet I'm confident it could also double as a breathing apparatus. Press that button on the front to activate it."

"Okay..." Steven let his fingers fumble around in front to finally felt a button press with a tiny harmonious sound. Immediately his head was surrounded by a round, transparent field, "Whoa, everything looks so shimmery now!" He pressed the button again and the field vanished instantly, "Thank you, Spodumene! Now I feel like a real astronaut!"

"You really have thought of everything, haven't you?" Garnet asked.

"In my line of work, I have to," Spodumene said as she walked back to her own chair. Her fingers practically glided over various buttons and she then looked up at a view port above her, "Light-speed in 3... 2... 1..."

The rush was immediate, at least to Steven it was. While the other gems sat in their chairs completely unaffected by the gravity rush, Steven suddenly felt himself feel much heavier in his chair as it swiveled in a circle.

"Uhhh... I feeeeel soooo heavyyyyy!" he tried to call out.

"Ha ha ha, look at you!" Amethyst laughed, "You look like you're melting in that chair!"

"Make sure you're secured with the seat's safety belt, Steven!" Spodumene called out without turning her head as she continued to work. It was then that Amethyst noted that she had a console before her, just as Pearl, Garnet, and Steven did, which were all identical to the one Spodumene was currently using.

"Wait, were we supposed to be doing something at our console-things?" Amethyst asked.

"That will not be necessary, Amethyst," Spodumene replied.

"Good," the purple gem spun back to look at the console before her, "because I don't have a clue what anything here does!"

"Activating the motion dampeners... now," With one final button press, the entire shuttle stopped shaking with turbulence, and everything smoothed out.

"Ah!" Steven raised both of his arms up, "Much lighter now, light as a feather!"

"We will be arriving with the gem fleet shortly, estimated time to arrival: ten minutes," Spodumene then spun her chair around to face the center of the shuttle, "Maybe now we might finally have a chance to talk..."

"Look at that," Steven said while looking out his view port, "Those stars look like they're racing past us. We must be going super fast..." He then spun his chair back around to look at Spodumene, "How fast are we going?"

"We are travelling at approximately one hundred light years per second," Spodumene explained, then tapped a few times on the robotic object on her upper right arm, "I'm not familiar with human aging, but I believe at least two thousand Earth rotations will have passed had we traveled at normal speed."

"What is that weird thing on your arm?"

"My limb-enhancer?" Spodumene looked back down at her arm, "Most gems in science research and development are equipped with different forms for different appendages. I had mine custom built to my specifications. It's mostly for maintenance work, though as you've seen before it can be used for display purposes."

"So does it tell you the time?" Steven asked.

"Well, yes, among other things..." Spodumene replied, "But really, I would like to hear what you four have been up to. What happened after the gem incursion?"

"Ah well, you know," Amethyst said, "It was mostly just clean-up stuff around the beach and in town. It was so tedious and boring though! After that, things kinda just went back to normal."

"As if things could ever be normal again..." Garnet said.

"And have you had any contact from... other space races?" Spodumene asked.

"Um... nope," Steven said, "Just the other space gems is all we've seen... Well, there was also Lumpy..."

"Oh yeah, I remember Lumpy!" Amethyst agreed, "From that one time we went back to the strawberry fields! He definitely looked like he was from space if you ask me."

"Mutant would be a more accurate word to describe him," Pearl added, "That thing was on Earth for many years, feeding on nothing but the strawberries. It was unlikely that it would be able to not only travel space but be able to find and land on Earth."

"It put up a real fight, though," Garnet said.

"The what fields?" Spodumene asked.

"Pardon?" Pearl asked.

"You said you went to the... fields with, something or other?"

"Oh! The strawberry fields," Pearl clarified, "Located in the modern country of Norway, I think. That was one of the main sites where the rebellion made their stand!"

"Really?!" Spodumene was now leaning forward, "What happened?"

"We held our ground, and we won," Garnet said, "But many of our own didn't that day..."

"How I wish I could have been there, to fight alongside you and Rose..." The yellow fusion-born let her arms slump at her sides, "If only I..."

"Spodumene, we don't blame you for not being there, Rose never did. One thing I remember her saying was that 'We all fight great battles in different ways,'" Garnet said with reassurance. Spodumene looked at Garnet for a moment, then gave a small smile with a single nod.

"Hey Spodumene?" Steven spoke up, "I don't know if this is a weird question to ask or not, but... what was it like to work for the Diamond Authority?" Pearl's eyes narrowed slightly at Steven's seemingly out of nowhere question.

"Hmmm..." Spodumene recounted, "Firstly, you have to understand that all gems eventually fell into the Diamond Authority's ranks sooner or later, the latter in my case. Before then however, I remember being birthed from my geode, and then walking among the sands of Crystarra with no direction."

"I don't get it," Amethyst cut in, "You're a gem that came from Crystarra; why weren't you already one of them?"

"It's not that simple, Amethyst," Pearl said, "Crystarra gems were birthed from magic-infused geodes, but the Diamond Authority itself was conceived long after. As it was Diamond's idea, she created a government in her name that she ruled over."

"I remember one of my earlier days," Spodumene continued, "I was discovered by Rose Quartz. She met me, and at the same time did not shy away from me... She appreciated me, then introduced me to Diamond, and I was made a member soon after. I remember feeling so grateful to her from then on, since if she hadn't come along..." She looked back up at the boy, "Steven, the Diamond Authority may have given me purpose with my aptitude for technologies... but it was ultimately Rose who made me feel... welcome."

"Thanks, Spodumene," Steven said, "I may never have met Mom in real life, but I know she would've been the best."

"Yeah, I can definitely relate to that little story..." Amethyst said to herself at first, "Say, anybody else notice how whenever we have these really deep conversations, they always end up involving Rose somehow?" Everyone else paused for a beat.

"No," Pearl said.

"Uh-uh," Garnet said.

"Not really," Steven said.

"I don't think so," Spodumene said. Just then a beeping sound from her console drew her back. She spun her chair forward and tapped a few buttons before her.

"We're nearing the rendezvous sector... exiting light-speed in 3... 2... 1..." From each of the view-ports, everyone saw the stars, once racing past in a colorful blur now come to a sudden stop.

"By Geode, nothing's changed," Spodumene said to herself.

"What's not changed?" Steven asked, having heard Spodumene's soft voice. He turned to look out her view-port, and his question was immediately answered.

There was a planet in the distance, largely white, with splotches of dark purple coloring here and there. Given their strange formations and shapes, Steven could only guess that the purples were in fact bodies of liquid. In a weird way, it looked beautiful... almost.

"That's... that's Crystarra?" he asked, "Is it supposed to look like that?" Just as Spodumene claimed, bolts of bright, purple lightning encased the entire planet. Each bolt met with others at single points, creating a sort of global net.

"Do you believe me now?" Spodumene asked. No one said anything. With that, she turned the ship off course slightly away from the planet, and towards something else off to side of it. The much tinier objects slowly grew larger until they eventually could be identified clearly. A multitude of ships, very similar to the kind seen two months ago were grouped together.

"That's the gem fleet?" Amethyst asked, to which Spodumene nodded, "There's a lot of 'em." By now the shuttle was flying close enough to the ships to easily see the detail-work.

"It's so strange..." Pearl said, "We've willingly gone 'towards' Crystarra and the gem fleet, and we're not being fired upon."

"What you see now is... only a fraction of what once was..." Spodumene said while diligently focused on her console. The others could easily tell the hurt in her voice. She continued to press buttons on her console, until it ended with a different beeping sound, "This is Council member Spodumene hailing the prime gem warship, requesting docking clearance," There was silence for a moment, until Steven suddenly realized,

"Wait, what? What did you call yourself-"

 _"Council member Spodumene, this is Peridot, hailing from the prime gem warship, receiving your call,"_ a familiar voice was suddenly heard, _"Your clearance is granted, please dock your ship in hanger 'A'."_

"Wait, Peridot?" Steven asked, "Isn't that-"

"Understood, Peridot," Spodumene ignored Steven's comment, "Spodumene out."

"Okay, what?" Steven asked again, "First off, what was that about 'council member'? And second, haven't we seen or heard of this Peridot before?"

"Wait a minute, Steven; let me land this shuttle first..." Everyone watched as the shuttle turned to enter an opening in the side of one of the ships. Hovering forward briefly, it then lowered down into an empty spot between two other ships. The vibrating hum drew softer until all was completely silent, until the door they had entered through opened again with an incline extending out for them to walk on.

"Right... here we go," Pearl nervously.

"Steven, stay close to me, understand?" Garnet said, drawing Steven close to her as they exited.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"For one thing, we're not on Earth anymore," Garnet explained, "And let's just say I wouldn't trust any other gems we meet here to be alone with you."

"Eh, good point," Steven agreed and walked side by side with the crimson gem.

"Your caution is not without warrant, Garnet," Spodumene noted, "But I promise no one here will harm you... either of you. Follow me and I will introduce you to the entire gem council."

"Whatever you say," Amethyst said, "Lead the way, Spodes!'"

"Er, yes, right this way," Spodumene lead them across the hangar. They reached the door, and saw that someone was standing outside of it, almost as if waiting.

"Finally returned from your little mission, Spodumene?" Almost everyone immediately tensed when they realized who this particular gem was, "You know how bored I get of waiting, when nothing happens-" The gem turned her head to face the newcomers, her long, white, wild hair swishing behind her. Her eyes met them, and immediately widened in surprise, "What... you again?"

"No, not you!" Steven said.

"Jasper..." Garnet spoke in her low voice.


	4. The Gem Council

"So, the traitorous Rose Quartz has come back, huh?" Jasper punched her fist into her hand, "Fine by me." The gems of Earth quickly slid into defensive stances.

"Hey you, step off!" Amethyst said.

"Aw, and you've brought your little friends with you?" Jasper said, "Good, now I can beat you all down at once!"

"You will not harm him, nor either of us!" Garnet warned.

"Y-Yeah!" Steven stuck his left arm in front of him, and his shield materialized.

"Please! Enough!" Spodumene shouted as she jumped between the two groups with out-stretched arms, "No one is going to fight anyone!"

"Spodumene, you'd better-" Jasper started.

"I had better what, Jasper?" Spodumene countered, "You were assigned guard duty both during and after I ran my errand. You were in no way given leave to engage in conflict with our guests. Now unless you'd like to risk deeper punishment than you're already in, stand down!" With each word, Jasper's face was twisted with more and more frustration. Finally she stepped away, giving the group a wide berth.

"Yeah! Don't mess with us!" Amethyst taunted. Feeling the immediate danger passing, Steven lowered his arm and his shield dematerialized.

"Don't start with me, runt... there could always be a next time," Jasper crossed her arms and a wicked grin spread on her face. The gesture nearly put Amethyst off further, but Garnet's hand on her shoulder held her back.

"Follow me, please," Spodumene placed her lower right hand on a console on the wall, and a blast-door opened before them. The four gems and Steven walked through, rather quickly if only to be sure Jasper was not following behind them.

"Okay, she is the LAST person... gem, somebody I ever hoped to see again!" Steven said once the door had closed.

"Hmm, I will say this; you almost might not have seen her again," Spodumene said.

"Why's that?"

"Well from what I heard, Jasper had went entirely against former General Jet's orders to hold position over Earth's orbit, opting instead to attack you four herself," Spodumene explained, "Needless to say, Jet was none too pleased with her actions."

"Really?" Garnet asked, "I'm surprised we're still seeing the likes of her around..."

"Ever since then, Jasper has been demoted from active duty to those of a common guard," Spodumene said as she led them down the hallway, "But enough of all that; I suppose a formal welcome is in order. You are standing within the prime gem warship of Crystarra's battle fleet." As they walked forward, the distant sounds of talk could be heard, indicating that others were present on-board the ship, despite not seeing anyone.

"This isn't the same one we were on, is it?" Pearl looked around the walls of the wall they walked in.

"No, it is not," Spodumene replied, "This one is our flagship. The gem council and certain other gems coordinate the fleet from this one."

"Really? All those ships outside?" Steven said, "You're able to keep track of them all?"

"It's not at all difficult," Spodumene said, "And it's not like only one gem has that responsibility. Most gems on the other ships have been, anxious at best, but we've all kept our patience and held our positions so far."

"Spodumene," Pearl said, "I know that we gems are a space-faring race, but... we're not really a space-'dwelling' race. How long does this plan to continue for?" Spodumene suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, the others stopping behind her.

"As long as we have to!" she said, "What has happened in just a short time has... never happened before! We have never..."

"Spodumene, it's okay," Steven put his hand against the the upper right hand of the yellow fusion-born, causing her to look down at him, "It's why we're here now, helping you. We'll find out what's going on with the gem home world and find a way to fix it!"

"I very much appreciate this..." Spodumene smiled, "But now, the gem council is directly through this door." The group had now stopped behind another door. Spodumene's hand pressed against a panel on the side, and the door opened, revealing what was inside.

* * *

The room was rather small, with view-ports dotting the walls to show space outside. The walls themselves were crystalline detailed, yet still bore a touch of technology beneath the surface.

Unlike the past rooms that Steven and the gems had entered into, this one was actually populated. A group of gems stood in the center of the room focused on a holographic display from a cylinder column that rose out of the floor.

"Council members, I have returned with the gems from Earth," Spodumene announced. Everyone was standing perfectly still as the council members now looked up. There were four of them: a short, red gem with a square-shaped head of hair and a headband tied off in the back, a cream, pudgy gem in a large yet tight-fitting white gown, a rich green gem dressed in a toga that contrasted her own skin color, and gold colored gem who looked all too familiar.

"So, brought them here, have you Spodumene?" Citrine asked. In a flash, she materialized her twin sais in her hands, "Good." At the sight of this, the four from Earth tensed into battle stances, or attempted to appear not intimidated.

"What? No-!" Spodumene started.

"No Citrine," the green gem next to her held her arm in front of her, "They will not be broken this day."

"Emerald, what are you saying?" Citrine protested, "These are THE gems led by Rose Quartz, who is here no less!"

"I'm aware of this... because they were requested to come," Citrine's eyes widened, as did those of the cream gem slightly.

"Well, this is... unexpected," the other previously-silent gem spoke.

"Indeed..." Emerald slowly walked around the holographic display column from the floor and towards the group. Unfortunately, the gems still did not relax despite Emerald's gait and posture not showing any hostility.

"Um... Hi, I guess..." Steven cautiously said, "The name's Steven. This is Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet. And, you must be the gem council Spodumene told us about?"

"Yes, 'we' are," Spodumene's voice behind him caught his attention. He turned to watch as the gem walked forward to stand along with the other gems. This hearkened back to what he had heard Spodumene say earlier, and his eyes widened.

"Wait, Spodumene?" he said, "You're one of them?" The fusion-born nodded.

"Hmmm..." Emerald put a hand up to cup her chin as she stared at the boy, "So this is what those 'humans' look like in person... But that is clearly Rose Quartz's gemstone," Emerald looked up at the Earth gems, "... Perhaps I'm still unclear about this; how exactly does a human, an Earth native, come into possession of Rose Quartz's gem?"

"Emerald," Garnet said in a low voice, "We may have come here of our own free will to help Spodumene, and to some extent yourselves, but details such as that are on a trust-basis."

"Very well then," Emerald resigned, "Perhaps it's better if I do not know the specifics... Since this is apparently our first meeting, 'Steven', introductions are in order. I am Emerald, de facto gem leader and spokes-gem for this council. You're clearly acquainted with Spodumene, head of the science department. This is Ruby Prime," she indicated to the small red gem, "head General to our fighting forces." The diminutive red gem struck a pose of putting her fists on her hips and thrusting her chest out.

'Oh my gosh! Adorable!' Steven thought, 'She's like a tiny Garnet!'

"Citrine here is the appointed leader in intergalactic reconnaissance," the gold gem crossed her arms with an indignant frown, "and lastly-"

"Chrysoprase, gem healer extraordinaire!" the last gem finished.

"What? You also heal gems?" Amethyst asked.

"Indeed, Rose Quartz was not the only renowned healer; I am just as proficient, for those who need it most, that is," Something in that implication was just enough to rub Amethyst the wrong way, "I don't recognize you as... Are you by chance a kindergarten gem?"

"Um... yeah, why?" Amethyst asked.

"Oh, it's nothing really," Chrysoprase said, "You have that distinct look about you..." Amethyst found that the frown on her face was growing the more Chrysoprase spoke to her.

"Well," Pearl said, "If anyone were to be leader of the Diamond Authority, I suppose you would be much better suited, Emerald."

"Oh, thank you, Pearl," Emerald said, "for being a once traitor to the old order, you flatter me. But there is no more Diamond Authority, as I'm sure you've gathered."

"Yeah, we're now the new government of gems," Ruby Prime said, "We were really starting to change how things ran on Crystarra, until everything went down, that is. In fact, why don't we show them what happened?" One by one the council members nodded, and led Steven and the gems back to the column. Once there, Spodumene tapped buttons on the interface before her, and the image changed to the rotating planet once again.

"About twenty four hours ago or so, the Crystal Spires suddenly became active, but in a completely non-standard way," Emerald said, "In fact, our above orbit observation seems to suggest deliberate wrongful tampering."

"Wait, hold on," Steven said, "I think I'm still behind on what these 'Crystal Spires' are, so..." Emerald and Spodumene briefly shared looks with each other, then the fusion-born tapped her console again. The image of the planet zoomed in rapidly until another single image took its place: a large, crystalline tower with a very small hole at the base.

"This... is a Crystal Spire, Steven," Emerald said, "They feed directly into the planet itself, allowing access to its rich energy. Us gems are able to access that energy to use as a sustenance... actually, it's more that we have to."

"What do you need energy for?"

"Gem warriors are magic-conceived," Emerald explained, "And that magic is stored in our gems for the proper use of our powers. But it is not limitless, and even something minute such as projecting our physical forms uses that energy."

"Ok, I think I get it now..." Steven said.

"And as I have mentioned before," Spodumene continued, "our scouts had reported a suspect..." she tapped buttons again, and the imaged morphed itself back into the hooded figure in her forward dashing still-frame. At this, the other council members shared looks between each other.

"Oh yes, Spodumene," Citrine said, "Haven't you heard? There has been an update on what the scouts have identified since you were gone."

"What?"

"It's true..." This time Citrine pressed buttons from a console in front of her, and the imaged changed only slightly this time. This minor change however was enough to make almost everyone in the room gasp in surprise.

"It... it can't be!" Pearl said.

"Oh man, not her!" Steven cried out, "Diamond!"

"This... cannot be!" Garnet said, "We saw her get obliterated by... whatever that thing was that the Cosmic Beetles made!"

"So you claim..." Citrine softly said as she looked up at the holographic figure. This time the hood that once concealed all of the figure's head was pulled back enough to reveal the face. Diamond's eyes could be seen, still pupil-less with a sense of a dark void filling them. What was different however were the number of lines that seemed to run from the eyes off to the sides of her head.

"Are you absolutely certain about this?" Spodumene asked. Citrine looked at her with a frown on her face. She was about to say something until Emerald spoke up first,

"Unfortunately... We could hardly believe it ourselves when it was first discovered. But our scouts presented us with undeniable proof, right here before us."

"And yet it was this, human, who had bested her, was it not?" Chrysoprase asked in her strangely calm voice, "So it stands to reason that it can do it again."

"Maybe, maybe not," Citrine crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

"No, no, no," Steven took a few steps back, as if the holographic-still image of Diamond was just as dangerous, "She was crazy! And there were like seven of them last time!"

"How can you just say something like that, Chrysoprase?" Pearl asked, "Steven is just a human boy, while Diamond is the- 'was' the strongest and most powerful of gems!"

"Perhaps... something is missing here," Emerald said, "Steven, how exactly did you... best Diamond in battle as claimed?"

"What? No!" Steven protested, "What happened on that ship, it was all an accident! Yeah I fought her, but I never really 'bested' her..."

"So this was an illegitimate victory?" Chrysoprase asked with skepticism, "Garnet, since you were also present at the time, perhaps you would like to relate the truth?" Garnet looked at the council in a pause, then down at the boy.

"What Steven says is... not untrue," she relented, "Diamond nearly overpowered us, even with Jet and Lapis Lazuli helping."

"But I 'did' try, at least," Steven went on, "I ended up doing something that... I knocked one of the Diamonds into that weird orb and, it like sucked three of them in!"

"So then... what happened with the other four Diamonds?" Emerald asked.

"When the portal closed, the Beetles remained and destroyed them, along with themselves," Garnet said.

"I see..." Emerald said, stepping back in thought, "And now suddenly Diamond has returned from destruction to wreak who knows what kind of havoc on our home planet?"

"Grrgh! This is so pointless!" Ruby Prime suddenly exclaimed, "If she really is doing all this stuff to our planet, then we need to stop her, former leader or not!" The other council members gave pause, clearly at a loss for words to add. At this, Ruby Prime looked at the Earth gems, "Listen, you're going to help us with this, aren't you?"

"Um, I mean," Pearl stammered, "Well, what is it you expect us to do? You haven't really relayed any plan to us!"

"Actually, we did have a plan," Emerald said, "And now that your human has arrived, we can relay it."

"What?" Pearl looked at them, then down at Steven.

"Yeah, what?" Steven echoed.

"It is as I have said before," Chrysoprase said, "As the one who bested Diamond in battle, this human should have no trouble doing it again!" As she spoke, Citrine directed their attention back to the hologram as it changed back into the image of Crystarra.

"From our scans, not every Crystal Spire on Crystarra has been affected," she said. The planet suddenly spun fast and rapidly zoomed in on one target: a massive crystalline structure that strongly resembled a castle, with many towers that branched off of its top. Pearl put her hand to her mouth upon seeing this.

"Um... I don't get it," she heard Amethyst say with a shrug.

"Oh Amethyst, don't you know?" she asked. With starry-eyes she looked back at the image, "That's the Citadel, still the pristine shape of magnificence!"

"Um Pearl, you forgetting something?" the purple gem asked, "Not from here, so I kinda don't care!"

"Anyway..." Citrine's voice got their attention, "The Citadel, or Crystal Spire Alpha, has not been corrupted, or even activated. So long as it remains such... it is the next target."

"Wait a minute," Pearl held her hands up, "Are you seriously implying what I think you're implying?"

"This is no mere 'implication'," Emerald said, "It would be necessary if your Steven were to assist in apprehending Diamond." No one in the room bothered to keep track, but the silence that followed felt like it lasted for eternity. The tension that built up almost felt suffocating.

"That... is... madness!" Pearl finally exclaimed, "You cannot be serious! Spodumene, surely this can't be your plan..."

"I'm... The plan was to enlist your aid, I do not deny that," the yellow-fusion relented, "But I had absolutely no idea the perpetrator was Diamond! I promise you!"

"So... you want us to be the ones to take down Diamond for you?" Amethyst asked this time. The council members stared at her, but Spodumene gave a small nod, "Then I say... sure!"

"What?!" Pearl and Steven exclaimed, and even Garnet turned to her with a look of surprise.

"Come on, guys," she said, "We said we'd help Spodumene, and we're here now! Besides, how hard could this Diamond really be?"

"You weren't there, Amethyst!" Pearl protested, "You don't know what Diamond was capable of! Why, it's-"

"And neither were you, Pearl," Garnet cut her off, "In fact, this decision is not ours to make, but..." She looked down at Steven as he looked up at her, then got down to his level, "Steven, you and I both know the risk here, more so than Pearl and Amethyst; do you still want to do this?"

"I-er..." the boy looked back and forth between Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst, and the gem council, "Diamond was really scary, and tough... and she said some really hurtful things... but, if it means helping Spodumene..." He nodded his head once in dramatic finality.

"Steven..." Pearl trailed off.

"Alright, little man!" Amethyst clapped her hand on his shoulder, "And the three of us will be with you every step of the way, right?" Her expecting look cast off in Pearl's direction. Pearl too was silent, but with closed eyes nodded as well.

"This council expresses its deepest gratitude to you," Emerald said, "As will all other gems once this threat to our kind has been dealt with. Now then, please follow Chrysoprase and Ruby Prime; they will relay the mission details to you as they take you for scanning."

"This way!" the short red gem announced. Steven and the gems moved to leave, but stopped when he realized the yellow fusion wasn't moving.

"Spodumene? Aren't you coming with us?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not, Steven," Spodumene replied, "I have duties here now that I must oversee, council member and all that..." The Earth gems followed the short and pudgy council gems out of the council room and into the hallway, the door closing behind them. Once they were gone, the three remaining gems turned back to each other.

"What's the status on the shuttle?" Spodumene asked.

"Your gem techs did their job," Citrine said, "They've equipped it with that plating to cover it entirely."

"Did they remember to leave spaces in between the rear thrusters?"

"How should I know?" Citrine asked.

"That is the most important step!" Spodumene insisted, "Otherwise that ship won't even be getting anywhere close to-"

"Then see to it yourself!" Citrine said, "It was your idea after all."

"Spodumene, are you sure this will work?" Emerald asked.

"For once, I am positive, Emerald," Spodumene replied, "The ships that were destroyed did not have necessary protection."

"And this shuttle being worked on will have it?" Spodumene nodded, "Then for everyone's sake, success is paramount..."


	5. Setting off

"Right this way," Chrysoprase said as she led the group. The Earth group followed her and Ruby Prime along a hallway until they reached another door. With her left hand, Chrysoprase accessed the panel and the door opened to them.

"Right... what are we doing again?" Amethyst spoke up as they entered the room.

"Well, kindergarten gem," Chrysoprase said, "Before you embark on the task you were appointed, you must be scanned first-"

"Okay, seriously," Amethyst snapped, "cut it out with the whole 'kindergarten gem' thing! I have a name!"

"... Right," the green cream gem nonchalantly replied, which only irritated Amethyst further, "You'll all need to be scanned for defects, deformities, or anything that might hinder your performance."

"Is this really necessary?" Pearl asked.

"All gems have to go through with this," Ruby Prime said, "Don't wanna go into battle when you're not at your best, do you?"

"Our best? So we all do some stretching exercises and jumping jacks, shouldn't we?" Steven suggested. The look Ruby Prime gave him was one he could only describe as 'adorably confused.'

"Ah yes, the human! Perhaps you would care to be first?" Chrysoprase declared, then gestured to the wall with her hand, "simply step onto that circular pad there and remain still."

"Um... okay," The gems watched as Steven slowly walked onto the circle, then turned around to face them, "This isn't gonna hurt, is it-?" Immediately and to his surprise, two very thin poles stretched up from the ground until they touched the ceiling, with a single, tiny object on each one. With one quick yelp at first, Steven watched as they slowly moved up their poles until one was level with his head, and the other at his feet.

"Please refrain from from excessive movement," Chrysoprase ordered.

"O-okay, sorry!" Steven said, and maintained his pose. For good measure, he also held his breath. The tiny objects then produced a glowing light from their ends, both at the top and bottom of his body, and slowly moved in their opposite directions. Steven's eyes flickered back and forth between the two, while mentally debating whether or not 'excessive movement' included blinking as well.

"Now then..." Chrysoprase said as the two lights turned off. Finally able to move, Steven relaxed himself and looked back at the group. Chrysoprase was now looking at a thin pad in her hand, "How fascinating! The intricacies of the organic structure, and the way the gem itself-"

"Ahem?" Pearl interjected, "Is there something wrong with Steven, or not?"

"Huh? Well..." Chrysoprase said, "Physically this 'Steven' of yours is in prime condition... save for a small... defect, in the head?"

"Excuse me?" Pearl asked in a challenging tone.

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Steven added, "I'm not all that bad... Unless, well there was that time when Jasper had... hit me in the face I think. I don't really remember, just that everything went dark after that."

"Yes, that might have been what I had detected..." Chrysoprase lowered her pad in her hand and walked closer to Steven, "Somewhere on the cranium?"

"Yeah, right here," Steven pointed out on his forehead. The injury was months old, but he still took care not to let his finger touch the bruise. Chrysoprase looked at the spot as well, her face showing no clear emotion. She then raised her right hand to Steven's face, where the boy could actually get a closer look at it, and something he hadn't noticed before. Her entire right pointer finger was, in fact, a gem!

"Whoa! What are you-!" Before he could stop her from contact, the glowing finger-gem was already touching his forehead. The result was instantaneous: waves of coolness seemed to radiate from where dull pain once was. His eyes darted back and forth between Chrysoprase, her finger-gem, and the other gems watching with mostly widened eyes.

After a solid ten seconds, Chrysoprase pulled her hand back. Looking up, Steven rubbed the spot of where his once-injury once was.

"How did you...?"

"Honestly, did you think that Rose Quartz was the only one who could heal gems?" she asked, not even bothering to keep pride out of her voice, "I'd like to think of myself as an equal or even better!"

"That's debatable..." Garnet mumbled under her breath.

"And with that, this human mission-ready!" Chrysoprase declared, then gestured him to rejoin his group. Noting the grandiose in her voice, Steven himself gave a triumphant smile as he walked back to the others.

"Ruby Prime?" Chrysoprase said. Like Steven, the short walked forward and stood on the pad. The two sensors on the poles flashed their lights on her and moved up and down once.

"And... still in exemplary condition," Chrysoprase said, concluding quickly in contrast the the longer time it took to scan Steven, "No healing or immediate treatment is required for you."

"Great," Ruby Prime replied, and stepped off the pad, "Now let's hurry up with the rest of you! I've got a home to retake..."

"You're... coming with us?" Steven asked, while Chrysoprase motioned for Pearl to step forward this time.

"You bet your gem I'm coming!" Ruby Prime replied, rubbing one fist with her other hand, "That planet down there is my home, where I came from... I won't let anyone mess with it, not even a fellow gem!"

"Acceptable condition, Pearl," Chrysoprase concluded, allowing Pearl to step away, "Garnet?" The taller gem passed Pearl and stood on the pad. The sensors scanned her up and down, just like with the others.

"Hmmm... still keeping in top form, are you?" Chrysoprase asked, "Surprising, given the centuries you've spent on a foreign planet." Garnet chose not to reply to that comment as she walked off of the pad, "Now finally, for the other Earth gem native!"

"... Whose named-?" Amethyst said as she walked forward.

"The Amethyst," Chrysoprase replied.

'I'll guess that's a start...' Amethyst thought with irritation. She stood still as the sensors scanned her body up and down. As Chrysoprase looked down at her pad for the results, however, a serious frown appeared on her face.

"Huh... what is this now?"

"What? What's wrong?" Amethyst asked.

"The scan indicates a marking, but not just any kind- dark plasma," the sounds of quick gasps filled the room.

"Dark plasma?!" Ruby Prime asked.

"That's insane, Chrysoprase!" Pearl protested, "There's no way she could've- unless..."

"Wait, do you mean my battle-scar?" Amethyst interrupted everyone. With their eyes on her, she carefully grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it, just enough to expose half of her belly. On it was what looked like a shape; a rectangular shape with a different shade of purple to her own skin tone.

"There is no denying," Chrysoprase announced, her tone much more serious, "this gem has been infected by dark plasma. She is unfit for active duty."

"What?! That's crazy talk!" Amethyst protested.

"Come on, she is too fit for 'active duty'!" Steven added, "Can't you just heal her like you did me?"

"This is dark plasma we're referring to," Chrysoprase stressed, "Whatever it touches induces a type of scarring that is not so easily healed, even for renowned gem healers like myself."

"Amethyst, I thought you told us that hit you took on Earth was fine!" Pearl said, "If only I'd realized it was this bad..."

"Come on, you too Pearl?" Amethyst said, "I said before I'm fine! I have been ever since I was reformed! There's been nothing wrong with me!"

"Have you had any lingering thoughts?" Chrysoprase asked, "Or even thoughts bordering on complete insanity?"

"Um... no?"

"Hmmm," Chrysoprase said to herself, yet loud enough for the others to hear, "For once I'm feeling conflicted. Dark plasma should have heavy negative effects on her, yet she still maintains her purpose..." She looked up at Garnet, "Garnet, I've heard everyone here's opinion except yours. Is your gem comrade here going to pose any problem?"

"Of course not," Garnet quickly replied, "Like she said, she was fine ever since the... incident. And we wouldn't leave her behind even if there was." Chrysoprase looked back and forth between gems, then gave a resigned sigh.

"Normally defected gems would have no part in field-work," she said, "But, your specific help was requested, so I give the Amethyst here leave to participate with you on the mission. The consequences, good and bad, are yours alone."

"Yes!" Steven and Amethyst said while high-fiving each other, while Garnet smiled in approval.

"You have all passed the mandatory pre-mission scanning," Chrysoprase said, "And for the most part, you are all fit."

"Finally! Now come with me, I'll take you to the shuttle we'll be using," Ruby Prime said. She led the group out the door, leaving the cream-colored gem alone in the room.

"Hmmm..." she stared at the pad she held in her hand, still bearing the scanning results of the short purple gem, "This really needs to be archived..."

* * *

"Well, here we are!" Ruby Prime spread her arms out wide while the others looked on. They stood inside another hangar, similar to the one they had first arrived in, but this one empty of spacecraft, except for one.

And they were not alone this time. A small number of gems were also present, all of different rich skin tones and having robotic parts on the ends of their appendages. With these enhancers they tinkered with the ship in various ways shown from showers of sparks.

"And... this is?" Amethyst asked.

"Yep, it's shuttle we're using!" Ruby Prime said, "And it looks like they're done putting all those plates on it."

"Just finished a few minutes ago, actually," a voice added. All five watched as a figure stepped from behind the other side of the shuttle. Her skin tone was light blue with hair a far darker shade in contrast.

"So this thing's good to go, Kyanite?" Ruby Prime asked. Kyanite nodded, and the short red gem turned to the guests, "Alright then, here's the plan: we'll be using this shuttle to head down to Crystarra. Once there we'll enter the Citadel and make our way to the energy font."

"Which is...?" Amethyst asked.

"The source of energy we... once used to sustain us," Pearl explained.

"So they're kinda like what our Rooms back on Earth-" Garnet quickly and violently shushed her from speaking further.

"Like we said earlier, since Crystal Spire Alpha is the last remaining Spire to be meddled with, it is currently the next target," Ruby Prime continued.

"So we'll have to be down there now, waiting for her," Garnet finished. Ruby Prime nodded in confirmation, and Garnet turned to her fellow gems with a sigh, "Well... we are really doing this... Are we ready?"

"Ready and able!" Steven announced.

"Yeah yeah, let's get goin' already!" Amethyst added.

"Wait... are we really about to try to fight Diamond?" Pearl tried to clarify, "As in- Mistress Diamond, of the Authority you and I once served, Garnet? Do we... really have a chance?"

"Come on, Pearl," Amethyst said, "Don't tell me you're getting one of those 'short term memory' thingies."

"There is one difference between then, and now," Garnet said, ignoring Amethyst's comment, "Diamond fought us when we were scattered, separated. This time, we'll all be facing her, together." Pearl did not follow that up with a response, but the stars in her eyes didn't leave either.

"Wait, you four are the ones I'm taking down there?" Kyanite asked, "I don't- I don't know if that's such-"

"They're not up for any debate, Kyanite!" Ruby Prime interrupted as she proceeded to walk onto the shuttle, "Council's orders!"

"Y-Yes, General!" the blue gem stammered, "Let us be off then." She walked first on the ramp with the others following behind her. As they boarded, they caught glimpses of the the other gems who must have been working on the shuttle now grouped up and watching them board.

"Everyone please take a seat," Kyanite said as the ramp and door sealed behind them, "The human included."

"Yeah, I got it," Steven said, and claimed an open chair. The layout of the other chairs was very similar to the shuttle that Spodumene's had, with an additional chair set in the very center of the cabin. This one was quickly claimed by Ruby Prime, while Kyanite took her seat at the very front. She flicked her disconnected fingers across the interface, and the shuttle began to stir to life.

"Initializing..." Kyanite said to herself, "Structural integrity holding. Let's hope Spodumene's idea works out..."

"Idea?" Pearl asked, "What idea?" The shuttle lifted well off the ground and slowly drifted out the hangar entrance.

"Her theory regarding electric conductors and inertia."

"Um... what?" Amethyst asked.

"It means whether or not well be destroyed trying to get down there!" Ruby Prime answered.

"Plotting our approach vectors..." Kyanite said, when a thin, transparent screen of Spodumene's face suddenly appeared before her, "Ah, Spodumene!"

 _"Kyanite,"_ the fusion acknowledged, _"Alright, Steven? Earth gems? Are you four ready for this?"_

"We sure are!" Steven announced from the back.

"Ditto," Amethyst added. The shuttle had cleanly launched from the hangar by this point. From the neighboring ships passing by rapidly through the view ports, they were flying at very high speeds towards the planet before them.

 _"Now, Kyanite,"_ Spodumene said, _"once you approach the lightning-web, have your auxiliary power reserves on standby. There's always a chance that electricity might still short out power to the ship itself."_

"Yes Spodumene," Kyanite swiped her fingers over her holographic pad in response.

"Um, Spodumene?" Pearl asked, "Has... well, what we're doing right now... ever been done before?"

 _"There haven't been any field tests performed prior to this, so no, you six are the first."_

"Figures..." Garnet said to herself.

"So we get to either touch down in one piece, or be blown up into a billion?" Amethyst asked.

"Quit complaining, all of you!" Ruby Prime called out, "Even if we do blow up, I'll pull myself from whatever wreckage I end up in and walk there if I have to!"

"B-but, we're not gonna blow up, are we?" Steven asked.

"We'll soon find out," Kyanite said, "We're entering the atmosphere..." From the central view-port, one of the open sections between the electricity web grew larger and larger. The shuttle slowly but surely began to rock with turbulence.

 _"Kyanite? Are you there?"_ the image of Spodumene filled more and more with static.

"Spodumene?" Kyanite frantically pushed buttons below the screen.

 _"...-sing sign-... ou the-!"_ Her face was gone now, replaced entirely with static. Gritting her teeth, Kyanite pushed one last button, and the screen vanished entirely.

"None of this sounds good!" Amethyst called out, "What's going on?!"

"We've lost communication!" Kyanite answered, in between vicious turbulent impacts, "We're getting struck from every direction by that lightning! If this keeps up-" Suddenly, the ship rocked hard to the left with enough force to nearly knock everyone out of their seats. Kyanite's eyes widened as she rapidly pressed more buttons on her screen.

"My stars, what was that?!" Pearl scrambled back into her seat.

"That massive bolt just struck us!" Kyanite said, "The panels on the ship's right side absorbed the blow, but..."

"But what, Kyanite?" Ruby Prime asked.

"They're gone now," Kyanite said, "If we take one more direct hit like that again, we could be done for!" Everyone, including Ruby Prime tensed up in their chairs, while Kyanite turned back to feverishly man her controls, "If I can just... wait, it's alright now! We've cleared the upper stratosphere!" As she said that, the view from the view-port in front became less clouded from the clouds.

The gem home world of Crystarra could now be seen, from the massive open landscapes of white sandy dunes, to the large, scattered pools of purple liquid. From their current altitude, a small number of crystal towers could also be seen here and there, each one glowing violently with purple lightning.

"Crystarra..." Pearl breathed.

"It's good to be back!" Ruby Prime said with a smile, "And there! There's where we're heading!" She pointed out to one of the towers, this one being wider and taller than the others. Unlike the others, there were a multitude of sharp, towering crystals surrounding it and reaching up for the sky.

"That giant, castle-looking thing?" Steven asked, "It looks like a castle from a fairy tale!"

"Take us in, Kyanite, nice and-" Yet another jolt from the side managed to knock Pearl and Amethyst from their seats on the right side of the shuttle.

"Ouch!" Amethyst cried as she hit the floor, "Now what?!" A rush of air was suddenly felt, and everyone turned in terror to find multiple holes in the wall where Pearl and Amethyst once sat, "Oh, that can't be good..."

"Hull breach!" Kyanite shrieked, "Navigation is disrupted, and I've lost control!"

"You've got to try!" Ruby Prime breathed, "Land as close to the Citadel as you can!"

"I can't!" Kyanite protested, "Most of our thrusters are gone, we're spiraling!"

"By Geode... Everyone, brace for impact!"

"Steven!" Garnet called out, and the boy quickly leaped into her arms. She held out her other arm to the other gems, and all were now huddled in a group hug. The view of the planet's ground grew closer and closer.

'This is it? Are we really gonna...?' Steven thought to himself, 'No... no this can't be how it ends...' An thunderous rumble rocked the very core of the shuttle, followed by darkness.


	6. Returning 'home'

"Spodumene..." Peridot said, "the signal is lost." She turned around to face both her fusion-born higher up, as well as three other colleagues who were also present. Everything was running smoothly, up until the shuttle had entered the planet's atmosphere where it disappeared through the thick clouds. Perhaps a communications disruption was to be expected, but a part of Spodumene held hope that her friends could still make it through.

"Well now what?" a light blue gem protested, "We equipped that shuttle with the quality grade conductor panels! Was this really all for nothing?!"

"And with Kyanite as its pilot?" a maroon gem added, "I agree with Paraiba... what do you think, Spodumene?" The fusion-born's face turned from one of surprise to one of thought as she folded her lower arms and tapped her lips with her left upper pointer finger.

"I'll... I will bring a status update to the other council members," she relented and turned to leave the room, "However, I want you to keep trying to find them, Peridot. If not by the ship, then by one of the planet's comm hubs, anything! There is always a chance... especially with those gems."

"Um... very well, Spodumene," Peridot replied, "I will continue to monitor comm traffic between here and on-planet." With that, Spodumene turned to leave the ship's control room and her science department gems.

'We've done everything we could do up here, but...' she thought freely as she walked through the hall. Other gems that walked past her greeted her, but she barely acknowledged them, 'But was it enough? Have I just sent my friends to their doom?' A chill ran down her back at the thought, 'Please be alright... Steven Quartz...'.

* * *

His visioned was at first darkened, until it gradually became blurry. Not only blurry, but very pink. In fact, everything he could see was a different shade of pink- light pink sands, magenta rocks, dark pink fires-

'Wait, what?' He rubbed his eyes before reopening them. What was going on? Everything was pink because...

"Steven? Are you alright?" Steven now looked to his side, and there were his crystal gems! The four of them were huddled tightly together, with Steven's bubble shielding them completely!

"Guys? You... we're safe?"

"Man, saved us again!" Amethyst said as Steven dissipated his bubble, "We're gonna have to start keeping track."

"Is anyone injured?" Garnet asked.

"Nah, we're all good, but the ship..." Amethyst pointed up and around them. The entire inside of their shuttle was wrecked. Walls were caved in, exposed wires crackled with colored sparks, and even a couple fires sprouted from the consoles.

"We... did we just survive this?" Pearl asked. Before anyone could answer, the sound of a loud crash filled the air. They shot their heads to face the source: a single fist had blasted out of a pile of debris, then stretched out into flexed fingers.

"Uh-oh, quick! Someone needs help!" Steven rushed to the pile with the gems right behind. They worked together to pull various pipes, panels and wires loose until finally the gem beneath was freed.

"Argh! Have we landed?!" Ruby Prime wasted no time in asking.

"Hey, take it easy!" Steven said, "You just survived a huge... ship-crash!"

"We're alive, and still intact? Then let's go!" Ruby Prime started to move, but Steven's hand on her shoulder held her still.

"Come on, slow down!" he said, "How can you be so quick to move like this after what just happened to us?!"

"There's no time to lolly-gag!" Ruby Prime pulled her shoulder out of his grasp, "We've arrived and that's all that matters! All of us have a job to do, so let's... Wait, where's Kyanite?"

"I'm here..." a voice drew their attention again. Kyanite, seemingly out of nowhere, approached them, mostly undamaged, except for a massive metal rod was lodged into and through her left limb enhancer.

"Ouch," Amethyst openly winced at the sight, "are you alright?"

"Yes, all things considered, why?" Steven pointed to her arm, "Oh blast! This is..."

"Does it hurt?" Steven asked.

"No," Kyanite said, her tone implying the question was incredulous, "My limb enhancer is not a part of me... though this might complicate things..."

"What things?" Pearl asked.

"Such as-" A low, yet heavy creaking sound cut her off. All looked straight up to the ceiling above them, which seemed to be lowering closer to them.

"That doesn't look safe..." Amethyst said.

"Yes... we should probably leave?" Kyanite nervously said, then quickly rushed over to the shuttle door and the activation pad next to it. She placed the floating fingers on her good arm onto the pad, then her look of confusion quickly turned to shock as she realized, "There's no power! The door won't open!"

"Stand back everyone," Garnet said. She materialized a gauntlet on her right fist and approached the door. She cocked her arm back, but before she could punch, a blur of red rushed past her. The blur had quickly powered through the door, easily dislodging it from its hinges.

Everyone, including Garnet, looked outside the now door-less shuttle to see that Ruby Prime had completely body-slammed into the door. She pulled herself to her feet and turned to the others, impatiently,

"Well? Come on!" Steven and Amethyst could only spare a quick glance up at Garnet, who lowered her arm and dematerialized her gauntlet with a shrug. Everyone then dashed from the shuttle, then turned back to watch as its top and roof completely caved in. What was once a sturdy looking ship they had first entered, now was a broken down, fiery mess.

"Now, Kyanite, what's the problem? Can you contact the fleet? Or maybe the Council?" Ruby Prime asked, walking closer to the tech gem.

"Just a moment, I've got to assess the damage..." Kyanite gently began to carefully remove the metal rod from her limb enhancer. The others watched for a brief moment, then let their gazes drift to all around them. For Pearl and Garnet, the reality began to sink in: they had returned to their home world.

"Garnet..." Pearl said, reaching to put a hand on Garnet's arm.

"I know, Pearl," the crimson gem said, "I feel it too."

"Feel what?" Amethyst asked, still looking around.

"It's so surreal, to be standing here on the planet that we were born, yet rebelled from..." Pearl said, "But now, to be back..."

"This is where you came from?" Steven asked, shaking off white sand that had gotten onto his sandal.

"And where most others came from as well," Garnet said.

"Well, now that I'm here, and got a good look at this planet, I've gotta say..." Amethyst said, "... So boring! Seriously, do you guys see anything around for miles?"

"These are only the desert lands, so of course there would be nothing of interest!" Pearl said, "I just wonder how the industrial centers have changed...?"

"But what is it that you actually did here?" Steven asked, "You know, before you and my mom left?"

"Back then, all gems carried out the will of Diamond," Garnet said, "Sometimes that'd mean they'd go to other places, but beyond that... there wasn't much else to do."

"Wow... that does sound boring," Steven said.

"Right?" Amethyst chimed in.

"Rgh!" Ruby Prime's groan got their attention, "Alright, listen up! Kyanite's communicator thing was on her arm, and is now broken!" Kyanite held up her limb enhancer up and to the side to show everyone the actual damage. A gaping hole went straight through the device, with snapped and sparking wires revealed within.

"Beyond simple field repair, I'm afraid," she added.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Amethyst asked.

"Now? We press on!" Ruby Prime pointed out in a direction. Everyone followed her finger to see where she pointed. Out on the horizon stood the magnificent crystal castle, with pointed towers stretching up to the sky, "The Citadel is right there!"

"Unbelievable..." Pearl softly said, "that we managed to land so close..."

"So, I'm obviously not able to contact the fleet," Kyanite pointed at her disabled arm device, "Which is why there is a chance we can contact them via the control room in the Citadel itself."

"So let's get going!" Ruby Prime ushered with a wave of her arm, "I'd rather not be out here when that lightning comes."

"What lightning?" Steven asked. Ruby Prime pointed out behind them, and all looked to see a thick storm in the distance. Very frequently the clouds were briefly illuminated by flashes of bright purple light, as bolts of lightning struck the ground, "Oh right... that doesn't look good."

"Alright, let's all stick close to each other," Garnet said, and everyone began their trek. Before them and the Citadel were a number of white waves of powdery sand. The gems' steps were precise, while Steven found that his feet would sink a little with each step he took.

"Heh, I'm gettin' sand in my flip-flops!" he shook each raised foot.

"I'm not having any trouble..." Amethyst said while pointing down to each step she herself took.

"How do you do that?"

"Eh, guess I'm just lighter than I look..." Amethyst replied.

"Oh well, I guess whatever I can't get out, I'll bring back as a souvenir!"

"I still don't understand why you three are here," Kyanite said, "Much less with a human."

"Please, don't make this any more awkward for us..." Pearl said with a slight edge, "We're only here because Spodumene asked for our help."

"That's what I mean, though," Kyanite replied, "This is clearly our own problem, so why are we turning to not only third parties, but traitors for assistance?"

"Hey, come on! Spodumene called us out here for a friendly favor!" Steven tried to reassure.

"Yeah, the ultimate favor of 'save my home planet from trouble!'" Amethyst added, "And besides, it didn't look like you guys were doing any better before we got here..."

"That's... it's because we... we..." Kyanite stammered, but turned her flushed face forward.

"You just caught us at a bad time," Ruby Prime replied instead, "These lightning strikes took us by surprise is all. That's the only reason they managed to-!" Suddenly, she stopped walking and talking just like that. She held a flat palm back behind her, signalling the others to do the same.

"What? Why'd we stop?" Steven asked, then looked up, "We're almost there."

"Quiet, everyone!" Ruby Prime hushed, then pointed to the sands in front of her, "Did you see that?" Everyone looked to where she pointed, only to find more sandy plains.

"...No?" Amethyst said.

"Wait! There!" Garnet pointed a finger, and sure enough, what looked like a small bump under the sand was moving to the side, "There's something there..."

"We can't let whatever that is slow us down, so everyone watch where you step," Ruby Prime said. She led the way again, this time carefully avoiding the pathways of the strange unknown sand-lurkers. Everyone was now looking off to their sides, with either nervousness or anticipation.

"Where are other gems?' Kyanite said aloud, "Even if they were destroyed, we would have at least seen some trace of them by now..." She quickly yelped in surprise when she noticed a small trail of rising sand crawling in her direction. The trail however broke off from its beeline towards the group and proceeded off to the side.

In her surprise, Kyanite hadn't realized that she had jumped backwards, right into the arms of Amethyst. She turned her head to find Amethyst coyly grinning at her.

"Scared much?" the purple gem teased. Flustered, Kyanite pulled herself from Amethyst's arms.

"I'm a gem! I don't get scared!" she protested.

Finally, the Citadel stood before them in full shape. From a close up view, a number of chips and scratches in the walls marred its pristine appearance. There were even chunks of its own walls that seemed to have broken off and cracked the ground beneath them.

"The Citadel..." Pearl gushed yet again while climbing the long stairs, "I never dreamed I would walk these steps again..."

"It's so... big... just like a castle!" Steven said in awe. After a minute of climbing they reached the doors.

"I'm glad it's still standing, after everything that happened..." Ruby Prime said, "Now let's get those doors-" She stopped, perked her head up, and quickly back flipped. She didn't hit the ground, however, as Garnet was standing in place to catch her in her hands.

"What was that?!" Pearl exclaimed, pointing at the wall where Ruby Prime once stood. There, embedded in the wall, was an ax, small enough for one hand with a razor sharp blade.

"Did somebody just throw a...?" Steven trailed off as his gaze drifted to where it had come from. Off to the side stood the obvious culprit: a humanoid of Garnet's height, standing upright again. It had a grayish blue skin tone, a muscular frame, multi-colored dreadlocks, and a strange square-shaped cavity in its chest.

"... A Bismuth?" Kyanite said.

"Bismuth?" Ruby Prime said with disbelief. She shook herself from Garnet's hands and landed back on the floor, "What is the meaning of this? Are you a survivor? Are there any more Bismuths here? What's going on-?" Her questioning was cut short when the gem, the Bismuth's, eyes flashed a sickly purple color. It dashed forward towards the shorter red gem with an outstretched fist.

But Ruby Prime was prepared; with both hands out, she caught the single fist and held it back. She was slowly skidding backward on her feet, but she still held her ground.

"What are you doing?! I order you to stop! Cease! Desist!" she cried out through gritted teeth.

"Oh dear, oh dear..." Kyanite said, backing away from the conflict before her.

"Stand behind us, we'll handle this!" Garnet said while summoning her gauntlets, Pearl and Amethyst doing the same. Steven held out his arm to summon his shield, when he caught movement off the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the side to see what the movement was, and his eyes widened.

"Um... guys?" he said. The other gems turned to where the human pointed, and shared his look of surprise. The open plain of sand where they came from was no longer barren. From seemingly random spots, something began to rise from the sand. These too turned out to be humanoid in shape, all different shades of different colors. One by one they shook off the sand from their bodies, and their eyes flashed the exact color of purple the Bismuth had.

"Um... we can take 'em... right?" Amethyst failed to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"I don't share your optimism, Amethyst," Pearl slowly backed away. As if for emphasis, each gem warriors' gems from various spots on their bodies began to glow. Slowly and almost deliberately, weapons were summoned, from razor sharp blade weapons, to thick and heavy blunt weapons.

"Agreed," Garnet said, "Ruby Prime? We need to..." The sound of a thud was heard, as the Bismuth's body crashed down to the mid-level flight of stairs below them.

"What is wrong with you?!" Ruby Prime exclaimed, "Why do you dare... er, all of you?" She trailed off as she noticed the now populated field of similarly enthralled gems staring daggers at the group.

"Ruby Prime, we should get out of here, now!" Garnet said.

"No... no no, I think we can..." Ruby Prime glanced to her side, only to find the others shooting her disdain and concerned looks, "Alright, fine! Let's get inside, and hope those doors can hold them off!" She dashed to the massive doors, the other gems close behind. Their movement was just the spark needed, as the gems outside quickly flooded forward. Ruby Prime reached the right side door first, reached her fingers into the crack, and pushed with all her might. Garnet quickly joined her and pushed along with her.

"Come on, you two; hurry!" Amethyst cried. She swung her whip to the side to launch an energy strike against the initial wave. Their rank was broken, but was quickly filled with more gems from behind them.

"Steven! Stay close to us!" Pearl said as she fired out energy shots from the tip of her spear.

"Ah, I know!" the boy said from behind his shield.

"We're... almost..." Ruby Prime grunted. Slowly, the huge door opened up a crack, "There! Everyone, inside now!" Steven and the other gems dashed forward, abandoning their ground to the enthralled. One at a time they slipped through the crack between doors, then she turned up to Garnet, "Right, now you!"

"I'll be... right behind you...!" The short red gem looked like she was about to argue, but relented to quickly slip in the crack. On the other side, she found the rest of the group waiting anxiously.

"General!" Kyanite exclaimed.

"But... where's Garnet?!" Pearl insisted.

"She was right behind..." Ruby Prime turned back around. Everyone watched the open door crack for something, anything... Until a humanoid figure from outside threw itself through the doors before them.


	7. A new dilemma

"Garnet!" Steven cried out. Garnet's body crashed to the ground, arms outstretched and huffing hard. He quickly rushed to her side to help her up, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine, but-"

"Hey! We need to get this door shut, NOW!" Ruby Prime yelled while dashing forward. Just like before in the ship, she ran forward and threw her entire weight into the door in an effort to shut it faster. Unlike last time though, the massive Citadel door only gave by a few centimeters.

"She's right, they were right behind me!" Garnet said, regaining her feet. She too dashed back to the door to push it.

"Alright; everyone push!" Pearl said as she, Amethyst, and Steven joined her.

"Argh, this door is so... heavy!" Steven grunted.

"Are... we... moving it?!" Amethyst said in between her grunts.

The combined weight of the four gems and the one human actually provided the force needed to move the door. With a deep resounding boom, the Citadel doors were sealed. Everyone now stepped back away from the door, anxious as to what would happen.

Suddenly, another boom was heard on the other side, and the door budged a little from its closed position. Ruby Prime quickly moved forward again to hold it, the others right behind her.

"This is no good!" she said, "They'll just keep coming... unless," her eyes perked up, and turned to the dark blue gem, "Kyanite, engage the emergency locks to the Citadel door!"

Kyanite, who had been standing frozen in place from surprise, finally was shaken. She dashed to the side wall behind the group, and accessed a panel with her good arm.

"Reboot? No...!" she said in frustration.

"What's the hold up?!" Amethyst asked.

"The Citadel has no primary power! I'd need to reroute the emergency reserves-"

"Yes! Do it!" Ruby Prime shouted, another crash against the door was heard. With that, Kyanite looked back down at her console.

"This would be so much easier and faster with two operable limb enhancers..." she said to herself. Despite this, she worked her good arm as feverishly as she could.

"Are you almost... finished...?!" Pearl cried out. Yet another crash against the door was enough to surprise Kyanite from her work. Looking back down, the power had now been rerouted.

"Alright, now just..." she said, pressing a final button, "There!" Immediately, and starting from the top, a series of long, thick colored bars shot stretched across the length of the doors. One by one they held against the door going down. Steven and the other gems stepped back from the door to allow for the final bar to appear.

They all took small steps backwards, watching the door cautiously. These bars may now be in place, but at any moment the door could still be broken open along with them. The crashing and thumping outside continued, but the doors themselves did not budge.

"Please tell me that'll hold..." Amethyst said.

"I've just engaged the Citadel's emergency door locks," Kyanite explained nervously, "There is nothing known to us that could penetrate it now..."

"You sound unsure," Garnet noted.

"But... theoretically, none of our kind have ever 'tried' to penetrate it..." her eyes perked up, as she suddenly realized, "But more importantly, why was the Citadel's primary power drained?"

"Wait, wait a minute," Steven said, "Are we just going to ignore this?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Ruby Prime asked.

"Out there!" the boy pointed to the secured door, "Those were other gems? What happened to them? Why were they like that?"

"Corruption, maybe?" Ruby Prime off-handedly guessed, "That's not important now, we need to-"

"No, I think it is important!" Steven insisted, earning him a look of surprise by Kyanite, "If those gems out there are corrupted, we should do something about them!"

"Steven..." Pearl said.

"And what would you propose we do?" Ruby Prime said, "There's nothing we can do for gems who are corrupted, even before this insanity happened! And why do you care so much, human? Us gems are no friend of your kind." Steven paused briefly, as if the short red gem's words had cut him deep. Instead, he looked back with his determined face.

"These three are my friends," he gestured to Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl behind him, "And so is Spodumene, who is one of your Council members! I think that proves that gems and us humans can be friends!"

Ruby Prime could only grimace in response, "By Geode, fine. When we're done, dealing with corrupted gems will be a topic of discussion by the Council; does that satisfy you?" This earned her a victorious nod from the boy, "Good, now let's press on!"

"Yes, um..." Kyanite said, "The Citadel's master control center would be down... this way..." She led them down one of the darkened hallways of the Citadel.

"Hey, that was quite a stand you took there!" Amethyst whispered as she nudged him with her elbow.

"Thanks," Steven replied, rubbing his arm where she nudged him, "guess it was..."

* * *

"What news, Spodumene?" Emerald asked.

"Emerald, Council members," Spodumene addressed, cautiously, "The experimental shuttle departed from the hangar five minutes ago. It entered the atmosphere... but..."

"But what?" Citrine pressed.

"We've... lost communication with it..." Spodumene relented. There was no point in withholding the truth.

"Indeed..." Chrysoprase rubbed her chin with her hand, "Well then, are we to assume the worst?"

"So it would seem," Citrine replied.

"We don't know that," Spodumene insisted, "In fact, we shouldn't assume one or the other. All I said was that we've lost communications with them."

"Spodumene, this is starting to become superfluous," Emerald broke her silence.

"Emerald, it's not," Spodumene said, "There's still a chance that we could hear from them again, either from the shuttle when it touches down, or from one of the-"

"No, that's not what I mean," Emerald interrupted, "I mean this entire conquest."

"Emerald?" Spodumene looked at her disbelief.

"What are we doing?" she said, looking between her fellow Council gems, "Our own planet has violently repelled its dominant species from it! And our one attempt to rectify this is getting us nowhere. It might be time to look to... other options..." she turned to Citrine, "Such as new colonization efforts."

"New colonization?" Citrine asked.

"Didn't you say your recent recon turned up valuable information?" Citrine looked at her once, then her face lit up with realization.

"Oh yes! Emerald, that's right!" she replied, almost excitedly, "My recent light recon dispatched to sector 33-Y7 of this galaxy found something... rather interesting. Among all the asteroids and dead planetoids inhabiting that system, there is one of possible interest."

"How so?" Chrysoprase asked.

"For one thing this planetoid was very much different from its neighbors," she explained, "All others in that sector are lifeless bodies of floating rocks, except this one..." Both Chrysoprase and Emerald's eyebrows raised from this, while Spodumene's face was still disbelieving.

"B-but..." Spodumene stuttered, "How can we be so quick to discredit our current mission?"

"Spodumene, we must be realistic," Emerald said, "You yourself said they were lost upon attempting re-entry."

"Ma'am, I... did say that, but I never said they were confirmed destroyed; there could still be a chance-"

"It still stands!" Emerald dismissed, "We need to consider our plans for the future! Our future, for the gems of today, and tomorrow! What is the estimated travelling distance to this planetoid?"

"Three light-years, Emerald."

"And such short distance, as well!" Emerald said, "It's a wonder this hasn't been discovered sooner! Send out a message to all ships in the fleet: we travel to this new planet!" Shock now graced Spodumene's face, and for a moment, she considered openly vocal disagreement. It would be risky in the long run, but she had to, at the very least, buy her friends more time. She slowly opened her mouth, but before she could make any sound, the door suddenly opened, and the four Council members turned to find a pink colored gem. She quickly regarded them with a crossed arm and fist over her chest.

"Council members. Spodumene," she said, "We have something!"

"Have what?"

"Our communications channel has picked up something... from the Citadel." In an instant, Spodumene's disposition did a complete 180 from disappointed to happy, while the other Council members were now in disbelief.

"The Citadel... they might have made it!" she exclaimed, "Ruby Prime, Kyanite, the Earth gems, and Steven, that could be them! Come, let us find out!" Without even waiting for the others' approval, Spodumene rushed out of the room, the others following behind her after exchanging looks.

"I have never seen Spodumene so... I don't know, happy like that before," the pink gem noted as she moved with the three Council members. After a few seconds of quick movement, everyone arrived in the ship's control room. Peridot busied herself with pressing various holographic buttons with her disconnected fingers, while Spodumene watched anxiously from behind.

"Tourmaline said that you have something?" Emerald asked.

"Oh, Council members!" Peridot said in surprise, "Yes, we identified a familiar signal through the static. I'm trying to raise it now..." She returned to her dutiful task.

"It was the strangest thing; we only picked up on it just a few moments ago," Paraiba explained.

"Um, was it actually the landing party that you've heard from?" Citrine said, earning her a look from Spodumene.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Suppose that it's actually not your friends down there trying to contact us, and rather someone, or something else..." Citrine said.

"I... that's, well..." Spodumene struggled for words, but Citrine did bring up a good point.

"There, I've cleared a momentary hole through the static!" Peridot announced, "This is Peridot, on board the prime gem warship, receiving this transmission. Who is hailing us?" The sound of the static was lighter but there was still silence. For a moment Spodumene felt her spirit sink, until an image suddenly flickered into place on the screen.

 _"- repeat, this is Kyanite of the Crystarra landing party expedition, hailing the gem fleet!"_ Everyone in the room now had varying levels of surprise on their faces.

"I read you, Kyanite," Peridot focused on maintaining the signal strength.

 _"Peridot? By Geode, are we glad to have reached someone!"_ the voice of Kyanite sounded excited, yet frantic, _"I'm contacting you from the Citadel's comm room. The other members of my group are also present: Ruby Prime, as well as the Earth gems and their human!"_

"Is there something wrong with your limb enhancer, Kyanite?" Peridot asked, pointing at her screen.

 _"Oh this,"_ Kyanite looked down, _"I suffered damage to my left limb enhancer when the shuttle crashed. It was why we had to try and contact you here at the Citadel."_

 _"You've reached someone? Let me talk..."_ another voice was heard, and Kyanite moved to the side to let the short red general on screen, _"Hello? Peridot, is the Council there with you?"_

"Yes, we are all present," Emerald spoke up, "How goes the mission? Have you found... her?"

* * *

"Um, that's a negative at the moment, Emerald," Ruby Prime replied, "We've actually only just made it to the Citadel..." she paused for a second, "You may not believe what we came across here."

 _"What have you found?"_ Emerald asked.

"Gems! Corrupted gems attacked us!" Steven blurted out from the side, causing Ruby Prime to look back over her shoulder in annoyance.

"Yes, it's true," Pearl added, "There were hundreds of gem warriors down here, all had dark purple eyes, and were quite hostile!"

 _"Ruby Prime... is this true?"_ Emerald asked.

"It's true..." Ruby Prime admitted, "But not here with us; we've engaged the Citadel's emergency door locks to keep them outside."

 _"So you're safe now?"_ Spodumene asked, _"Are you still able to finish what was started down there?"_

"Well actually, we kinda have to, since we don't have a way to get off this planet!" Amethyst said.

 _"What-?"_

"Our shuttle was trashed beyond all repair," Ruby Prime explained, "But yes, we're still able to proceed... However, when this mission is complete... I would like to request a topic of dealing with corrupted gems be brought up for discussion with the council..." There was chatter heard on the other end, but no one in the room could understand it.

 _"Very well, Ruby Prime,"_ Emerald said, _"The topic will brought into consideration at the next meeting. But for now, find the source of what's corrupting the Crystal Spires down there and correct it. We will await a future response from you, or for some sort of confirmation of your destruction."_

"Understood, Ruby Prime out," Ruby Prime saluted. Kyanite closed the comm channel and removed herself from the chair.

"Well, they could've had a little more faith in us," Amethyst noted.

"There, human," Ruby Prime said, "You've got what you asked for, and what to do about corrupted gems will be talked about. I hope you're happy..."

"Very!" Steven said, "But, I'd have thought you would be, too... Don't you care at all what happens to your own?"

"You don't seem to get it," Ruby Prime said to the boy, "Gems can always be made, destroyed, or improved, any time, and anywhere! No matter what happens to us... we live on..."

"I get that... I just get the feeling you think these gems aren't important... like they're not worth anything..." Steven said.

"Human," Ruby Prime sighed, "Gems are made and created with duties to perform, purposes to fulfill. No gem is 'unimportant'. It's just that dark plasma is an uncontrollable element, especially if gems were to be tainted by it..." Before she could add something further, she noticed something off to the side of the room.

"There, that's the elevator that will take us underground, where the Citadel's power font is located. Kyanite, power it up."

Kyanite nodded once, then seemed to suddenly realize, "Wait, you mean-?"

"Yes, you stay here and try to restore power to the rest of the Citadel," Ruby Prime ordered, "Everyone else, with me!" She marched to the door as it slowly opened, the Earth gems and Steven right behind her.

"Yeah, well not all gems are 'made to do what they're told'..." Amethyst grumbled to herself. Unfortunately her voice was loud enough for Garnet to pick up on.

"I know that, and you know that," she counselled, "And in the end, that's all that should matter. Don't let someone else's opinion affect you." Amethyst's hand moved to scratch her belly again, but this time she refrained from it.

"Yeah I know, Garnet... but thanks." All the gems and Steven were now in the elevator. Kyanite looked down to issue more commands, then door closed, and everyone felt the fast, descending rush.

"So this is it, huh?" Amethyst asked, "We're really going to fight Diamond?" She turned to look over her shoulder at Steven and Garnet, "Any last minute tips?"

"Um, well..." Steven nervously stuttered, "She, ah..."

"The best we can do is stand strong, and stand together," Garnet said, "Plus there's no telling what's changed about Diamond from the last time we saw her."

"I wish I had your confidence, Garnet," Pearl said. The elevator then stopped, quickly alerting everyone. The doors slowly slid open, revealing a new room.

A very bright and illuminated room. The ceiling stretched upwards high into a pointed oval shape, with a tiny ray of light being the only thing reaching in from outside. The walls themselves were decorated with carvings of stylized murals, complete with figures and shapes of different sizes. Of course Steven couldn't understand their meaning, he still marveled at them in general.

But the real attention grabber was the very center of the room. A stone circle cut out of the ground that housed a strange liquid within. Unlike the dark plasma that many of them had seen more than enough of by this point, this liquid was actually bright pink in color, and even seemed to shimmer. From the ever-flowing fountain of this liquid, translucent pink rays seemed to radiate from it and rise towards the ceiling. Everyone stepped out of the elevator, strangely feeling calmer.

"The Citadel's energy font," Pearl said while her starry eyes stared almost lovingly at it, "I've only ever seen and been allowed the fonts at the other Crystal Spires; I never dreamed I'd be here, actually looking upon the Citadel's!"

"It's so beautiful," Steven said, "And so pink... almost like my-" He was cut off by the sound of Ruby Prime sliding into a battle stance. Everyone was quickly on alert as they looked to where she looked.

There in plain view, around the font, three figures stood. Three very familiar figures.

"Diamonds."


	8. Hard as a Diamond

"Wait, you mean those 'three' are Diamond?" Amethyst asked, "They're not that much taller than you, Garnet."

"Amethyst..." Pearl's tone reminded her of their job. The Diamonds stood so that the group had a clear look at their fronts. There were three Diamonds, but each one was colored a different color: one white, one yellow, and one blue. Their eyes, and now so were the crystalline hairs on their heads, still were shaded with the same color of dark plasma, the exact same as the gems outside.

But what really stood out about them was the rest of their bodies. All across them, what wasn't covered by any apparel, stretched tiny lines of purple, almost as if they were veins. Everyone single line ran a course across their bodies, and all met back at their chest, where their diamond gem was located. Overall, their new appearance bred a feeling of dread, disgust, and general unease from the group.

"Hey, Garnet?" Steven said, "These Diamonds have the same colors as the ones..."

"The Diamonds that were sucked into the portal!" Garnet finished.

"What?" Pearl asked. Just then, the group noticed the Diamonds moving again. They tensed up as they anticipated movement towards them... only to find that they were more focused on the energy font. Each one had their palms stretched out towards it, with transparent purple rays flowing from them into the pink ray of the font.

"What are they doing? Don't they know we're here?" Pearl asked.

"This could be our chance- we could take 'em by surprise-" Garnet again felt and saw a rush of red before her. Everyone watched in surprise as Ruby Prime dashed forward on fast legs.

"Aaand, so much for that," Amethyst deadpanned. Seeing no more point to it, the rest of the group rushed forward to catch up.

The sound of rapid footsteps did indeed attract the Diamonds' attention. They slowly turned their heads towards the quickly moving red gem. She gave a small cry as she thrust out her cocked fist at the closest Diamond to her. Unfortunately, the White Diamond almost casually raised her own hand and caught the fist in it, much to Ruby Prime's surprise. She watched as she raised the palm of her other hand before her, and was blasted back by some sort of energy blast. She flew backwards through the air and skidded back to the group.

"Are you alright?" Pearl asked.

"Heh, that was nothin'," Ruby Prime shrugged off, "I was just getting their attention."

"I'd say you got it now," Amethyst pointed out. The three Diamonds were now standing side by side, their faces still showing absolutely no emotion.

"They... do not see..." the Blue Diamond suddenly said, much to everyone's sudden surprise, especially Ruby Prime's.

"Wait, what? They can talk?" Steven said.

"They are inconsequential," the Yellow Diamond said.

"They can talk... Mistress Diamond! It is I, Ruby Prime; new head military general to gems!" Ruby Prime announced, "What has happened to you? What are you doing to our planet?"

"No interference..." The White Diamond raised a hand before her and clenched it into a threatening fist, the Blue Diamond let the fingers on her hand wiggle with a shimmering effect, and the Yellow Diamond's hand morphed into the shape of a single blade.

"This is not good..." Steven said.

"Steven, you..." Garnet looked down at the boy for a moment of hesitation, "... and I should take one of them."

"Garnet, what?!" Pearl said.

"It's five on three in our favor," Garnet said, "It's our only chance..."

"Fine," Ruby Prime said, "If you think it'll help, I'll take on one of them myself, you all focus on the others. Maybe we can also draw out from them what they've done to the Spires, and even how to fix them!"

"Er, alright; Steven, be careful," Pearl relented, "Amethyst?"

"Don't worry Pearl, I'm with you," Amethyst spoke seriously this time.

"Then let's try this AGAIN!" Ruby Prime called out as she launched forward again, this time with the others following behind her. The Diamonds noticed the entire group move this time, so they all began walking forward with powerful strides. Ruby Prime raised her fist up to strike again. White Diamond moved her arm to catch it just like before, but this time, the short gem kicked her foot up, and knocked her arm away. With the mid-air spin this caused, Ruby Prime used her momentum to punch her with the back of her other fist. The taller gem was actually knocked back several steps, much to Ruby Prime's satisfaction.

"Now, Mistress Diamond, if you are really there, snap out of it!"

"The return cannot be stopped..." White Diamond spoke without emotion, almost robotic-like.

"The return-?" Before Ruby Prime could probe further, White Diamond quickly closed the distance between them. This time, she went on the offensive with strikes of her own, forcing Ruby Prime to block and deflect. With each one she evaded, she felt the force of the blow in tremors running up her arms.

Blue Diamond raised her fist back and attempted to punch Steven straight through the ground. But Steven quickly held his shield before him above his head. Instead, the sound of a deep vibration invaded his ears and throughout his right arm.

"Oooouch..." he said, "That actually hurt that time!" With as much strength as he could muster, he batted the invasive fist away from him, then tried to smack the taller blue gem with it, "Here, Garnet! I'm distracting her for you...!"

Garnet did not reply but still came at Blue Diamond from the side where she hopefully could not see her. Steven had currently smacked her against the head to face her away as Garnet closed in. Suddenly, Blue Diamond's hand shot up and caught Garnet's gauntlet. Both watched as the hand's fingers seemed to grow along the gauntlet's shape and curve inwards. Cracks started to form, and Garnet slowly starting gritting her teeth, until the entire gauntlet completely shattered in a loud crash. Blue Diamond was now grabbing Garnet's real hand. She swung and threw Garnet across the room into the wall.

"Garnet!" Steven cried out. Unfortunately, his quick loss of focus cost him, as Blue Diamond followed up with a spartan kick right into his chest. He felt the wind knock out of him as he skidded across the room, right next to Garnet.

"Steven..." Garnet was quick to help him to his feet, "Are you alright?"

"I think so," the boy said in between coughs, "But wow, is she-'s coming back!" Blue Diamond walked over to them, casually passing by Yellow Diamond as she fought her two adversaries.

"Grgh, let go, will ya!?" Amethyst struggled to free her whip from Yellow Diamond's grip. It was to no avail, even as her attention appeared to be focused on flawlessly countering Pearl's spear attacks with her own blade arm.

"Come on, come on..." Pearl muttered to herself, trying to find an opening. It wasn't doing any good; Diamond was too quick to parry her strikes, and she felt great strength with each deflect.

"I said... let GO!" she suddenly heard Amethyst cry out. She watched as her purple companion suddenly snapped her side of her whip to produce a blast of energy.

"Amethyst no! What're you-" Pearl shouted with widened eyes, but it was too late. The energy reached the other end of the whip, causing a huge explosion. Pearl quickly dashed back to avoid being caught by the worst of it.

"Oh man, Pearl I'm sorry!" Amethyst put her hand on her arm to comfort her, "Are you okay-?"

"What were you thinking?!" Pearl slapped her arm away, "I was right next to her!"

"Hey I'm sorry, alright? She wouldn't let go! And besides..." She pointed at their enemy. The light smoke was clearing now, revealing that Yellow Diamond was completely missing the upper half of her left arm, "I've now 'disarmed' her!"

"Uggh..." Pearl groaned. But the two hardly had time to gloat, as Yellow Diamond's arm stub suddenly grew out, expanding five digits. Within seconds, Yellow Diamond had a new, dark plasma purple colored, replacement.

"What?! Come on!" Amethyst protested.

"This is no good, Amethyst," Pearl said, "We need stronger attacks..."

"If you've got an idea, I'm all ears," Amethyst replied.

"Okay, um..." Pearl quickly considered as Yellow Diamond stalked back over to them.

"I'll try to distract her then," Pearl materialized a holo clone of herself armed with a spear. Yellow Diamond met the two with two raised arm blades, which the Pearls quickly clashed with. She slashed at the duplicates several more times, a deadly dance of sharper-than-steel blades. Until finally, when Yellow Diamond's blades caught both Pearls' blades at the same time again, the Pearls quickly dashed past each other, forcing the arm-blades into an awkward cross-lock.

"Amethyst! Now!" The real Pearl called out.

"Here I come...!" Amethyst's reply was to charge forward as a white, fast-moving ball coated with energy. When she was just close enough, the Pearl's pushed off their blades, allowing Yellow Diamond freedom, but not for long. Amethyst's strike was dead on as she impacted the very center of Yellow Diamond's torso and knocked her backwards.

"And... go!" at the same time Garnet said to Steven. The boy nodded once as Blue Diamond charged them again. With laced fingers holding him, she launched him forward straight at their blue enemy. Blue Diamond moved her arms up to stop the boy, but was too late. With an outstretched shield arm, Steven bashed Blue Diamond in the face to daze her.

"Your turn, Garnet!" Steven called as he touched down. Garnet wasted no time charging forward with her raised gauntlet. This time in her dazed state, Blue Diamond did not catch it before it struck her square in the chest.

Also at the same time, Ruby Prime dodged and weaved between strike after strike. White Diamond refused to disclose anything useful to her, so she settled on incapacitating her for now.

Both White Diamond's clenched fists swung down at once this time, but Ruby Prime jumped back in time. She looked up and smiled upon realizing that White Diamond's hands were now stuck into the ground.

"Right, here I go..." she quickly ran forward again. White Diamond had now dislodged her hands, but was not quick enough to stop the red gem. Ruby Prime jumped in the air at her, kicking her once with her right foot, then turning 180 degrees midair for a second kick with her left, then finishing with a final kick with her right. Each one successfully stumbled White Diamond and shoved her backwards.

All at once, Yellow, Blue, and White Diamonds' backs crashed into each other.

"Okay, I got this!" Amethyst snapped her whip, and the three Diamonds were tied together back to back.

"Nice going, Amethyst!" Steven said, "You got 'em!"

"Thanks, now I just- whoa!" The purple gem had no time to relax, as the group of three moving Diamonds proved difficult to hold. They moved around disjointedly, but with nearly enough strength to pull Amethyst off of her feet.

"Here, I gotcha...!" Ruby Prime gripped the whip right below Amethyst's hands and pulled with her. Just then, from the back of the bound trio, Yellow and White Diamond suddenly sprouted sharp spikes from their bodies, easily shredding the whip that held them. From the front, Blue Diamond's now free hands grabbed the whip. With a hard tug of her own she pulled to the side, dragging Amethyst and Ruby Prime along with it. The two gems were sent tumbling unceremoniously off to the side and crashing against the wall.

"Amethyst!" Steven, Garnet and Pearl cried out. Before they could move to assist her, they felt a rumble beneath their feet. They looked back to find White and Yellow Diamond were pressing their palms flat against the floor and from them, waves of yellow and clear crystal spikes suddenly erupted towards them.

"Oh no, not that again!" Steven said, "Quick guys, get close to me!" He reached out, hugged the two gems close to him, and concentrated. If there was ever a time for this to work, it was now. Eyes clenched and mind prayed... Until his ears felt a familiar clanging sound. He opened his eyes to find a pink world once again.

"Whew, that was close!" Pearl said.

"Nice save, Steven," Garnet said, to which Steven smiled in response. He lowered his arms and his bubble shield.

"Wait, now we're trapped inside here?!" Steven quickly assumed. It was true, the attack by the Diamonds may not have penetrated Steven's bubble, but nonetheless left the three of them surrounded by very sharp jagged crystals.

"The inevitable will no longer be delayed," they heard one of the Diamonds say.

"The return will proceed," another one said.

"What? What's going on out there?" Pearl struggled to see through the crystals.

"Hang on, you two," Garnet said, "I'll get us out." She began punching, punch after punch, into the crystals. This time they were no match for the weight and strength of her gauntlets and punches.

Outside, the Diamonds slowly returned to their original positions around the font. Yellow and White Diamonds raised their palms back to the light above it, and offered a purple light of their own into it. Blue Diamond raised her hands to do the same, until she felt something around her leg. She looked down, and shook her leg loose of that same whip from before. She turned around again to find Amethyst whipping at her again, while being helped to her feet by Ruby Prime.

"This may be our last chance..." the red gem said to Amethyst, "No matter what happens, we've got to stop them!"

"I know, I know!" Amethyst insisted, fully regaining her feet. Blue Diamond's face did not change, but the stance she took suggested that she was now angry. Her right arm quickly morphed into a shimmering blade. She power-walked back over to Ruby Prime and Amethyst. The purple gem snapped her whip to wrap around Blue Diamond's bladed arm. When she reached for the whip to unwrap it, Amethyst snapped a second whip around that arm as well. One last tug, and she had Blue Diamond's arms in a bind.

"Alright, let's try this again!" she snapped her whips to created two different energy waves. Like before, they reached their target, and obliterated the appendages in two clouds of dust.

"Finally, something I wanted to happen happened!" she said proudly.

"Not too bad," Ruby Prime admitted, "But..." The two of them looked back to find the clouds were clearing. Blue Diamond's arm stumps were again beginning to regrow.

"Seriously!" Amethyst protested, "Will NOTHING stop them?!"

"Wait a minute..." Ruby Prime said with narrowed eyes, "... I think I have an idea."

"You do? Well, what is it?" Amethyst asked.

"Something crazy in hindsight, but if it works..." she gave a quick glance at Amethyst, then rushed forward. Blue Diamond's arms had regrown past the elbows by now, and were only regrowing faster. Ruby Prime leaped straight towards her opponent with an outstretched hand... Until a purple crystal hand caught her in midair, only mere inches from the main body.

"Grgh, come on..." Ruby Prime strained. One hand was held firmly on the hand that gripped her by the neck, while she stretched the other towards the chest. Her fingers brushed over the edges of the gem and for the first time since the encounter, Blue Diamond's eyes widened in actual surprise. She positioned her other bladed arm back in a deadly pose.

Time seemed to slow down as both of them made their moves. Ruby Prime finally jerked her other arm back and held it into the air. There in her fingers, lay a pristine diamond gem.

"Ha! Got it-!" Further exclamation was cut short. Ruby Prime looked back down to find the other bladed arm had pierced her midsection. This was bound to happen, but now she needed to capitalize.

"Amethyst... HERE!" she tossed the diamond gem into the air, where a dumbstruck Amethyst held out her hands to catch it, "Take that to the council...!"

"But, hello! What about you?" the purple gem pointed frantically to the state the red gem was in.

"Whatever it takes... to save my home..." Two sets of poofs went off at once; one red, and one blue. Still, Amethyst found it hard to take her eyes off of what had just happened before her. Shen then shook her head and quickly rushed forward to claim the gem of the fallen warrior.

"Come... on...!" Garnet was still punching through the thick crystals.

"This is no good!" Pearl complained, "We're getting nowhere at this rate!"

"Wait a minute... Guys! I think I can get us out!" Steven reached out with his arms and held the two gems in them. He summoned his bubble once again, only this time with more willpower, he made the bubble slowly increase in size. Against different jagged points, the bubble still held as it pushed. Finally,the crystals all around began to shatter and snap, until a path was open in one direction before them.

"That's... done it! Well done, Steven!" Pearl congratulated. Releasing his bubble, the three of them rushed out to join their purple friend.

"Amethyst! Are you alright?" Steven put her arms on her shoulder.

"Huh? Guys! Yeah I'm fine, but..." She held both of hands up to show two different gems: one clean cut red ruby, and a surgically cut blue diamond.

"Are... are those?" Pearl pointed.

"She got herself stabbed, just to make sure we get this back to their council," Amethyst explained, "But, I couldn't just leave her here."

"Of course not," Garnet said, "It's a good thing you did, Amethyst. No one gets left behind."

"Yeah," Steven agreed, "In fact, give me those gems; I'll keep them safe in here." Amethyst handed him the two gems, he quickly bubbled the blue diamond gem, and they easily slipped into his two pockets.

"Alright then, we should now take care of..." Pearl cut herself off when she looked back up. Before them, the pink rays that glowed from the font were now turning darker and darker. Around the base, Yellow and White Diamond were lowering their arms, yet still watching the effects they had on the energy font, "... What have they done?"

An answer to her question came as rumble through the ground. The font liquid itself began to bubble and spasm within its confines. By now the dark purple rays of light that shown from it illuminated the entire room with its color. White and Yellow Diamond slowly turned to look at the group, and spoke as one,

"The return is at hand." 

* * *

-(AN), I felt the need to clarify something here: the Yellow, White, and Blue Diamonds you see depicted here are NOT based upon the ones shown in the actual show. They are my versions of them I had set up back when I wrote Diamonds in the Night Sky.-


	9. Gem-ducted

"What are you talking about a 'return'? And what have you done to the energy font?!" Pearl rapidly fired her questions. The two Diamonds, Yellow and White, didn't bother to dignify with any response. They instead looked back up to the ceiling with raised arms, where the now purple rays stretched up towards.

"It's no good, Pearl," Amethyst said, "They're not gonna tell us anything!"

"Then let's take them out too, just like Blue Diamond," Garnet suggested. Everyone eventually nodded in agreement. Garnet prepared herself to charge, but this time a sharper and stronger blast from the font shook her. Liquid from the font was now blowing straight up as hard as it could, almost trying now trying to reach the ceiling. The rays of purple light now looked more solid and opaque.

"Um, guys?" Steven asked, "Is this the best place we should be right now?"

"It calls..." One of the Diamonds spoke. The two of them were suddenly lifted into the air alongside the purple ray. They rose higher and higher into the air towards the ceiling, until they disappeared through the narrow passage that light had been able to shine through before.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Amethyst called out, "Get back down here, we're not done with-" She suddenly felt it again, that itch on her belly, back with a vengeance.

"It's too late, they're gone now!" Pearl said.

"What are we gonna do?!" Steven said.

"The elevator!" Garnet pointed, "Let's hope it will still work!" They dashed as fast as they could towards the open door. Steven turned around, but suddenly found that they were short one.

Amethyst continued to stand where she was, unmoving. One hand still on her belly, while looking up towards the ceiling.

"Amethyst? What are you doing?" Pearl called out, "We've got to go!" Amethyst did not immediately respond, but slowly turned her head around to glance at the group. Her one exposed eye betrayed complete fear.

"Guys... help me," she spoke softly, "I can't move..."

"What?!" Pearl rushed back out of the elevator, to the surprise of the other two.

"Pearl wait!" Garnet and Steven ran after her. Pearl was halfway to reaching her friend, when Amethyst suddenly was lifted from the ground as well.

"What the-?! HELP!" Amethyst cried out. With as much strength as she could muster, Pearl leaped into the air, just barely latching on to one of her feet.

"I've got you, Amethyst! But what's going on?!" Pearl called out.

"I don't know, P... I really don't know..." Amethyst said, "Something's pulling me, I can't stop it..."

"We'll get you down! We'll..." Pearl trailed off as she looked down; Garnet and Steven stood many feet down below her, much too far for any of them to jump. She looked back at her friend anxiously.

"It's no good Pearl," Amethyst said with a sigh, "Look... Just save yourself, alright? I'll be-"

"I- we're not leaving you, Amethyst!" Pearl yelled.

"I won't let you sacrifice yourself!" Amethyst countered, "I couldn't do that... Take them and get out of here... Tell that council what happened, maybe Spodumene can help..."

"Amethyst...?"

"Love you Pearl... hope we meet again..." A quick jerk of the foot, and Pearl's grip slipped. She screamed as she fell back down, but not for her own well-being. Luckily, Garnet was quick to jump in the air and catch her in her arms.

"No, we can't just abandon her!" Pearl thrashed around.

"Garnet?" Steven asked anxiously.

"We... um..." Garnet tried to concentrate, but between the rumbling of the ground, shaking walls, and their comrade's apparent abduction, she found it nearly impossible, "Oh, by GEODE! Pearl, get a hold of yourself!"

"But Amethyst-"

"We're not abandoning her!" Garnet insisted, "We'll find a way to save her. But for now, we've got to get out of here! Do you understand?!" Pearl's thrashing had calmed a bit, but tears still stung her eyes. Gingerly she nodded her head, and Garnet and Steven led her back to the elevator with hands on her shoulder. Turning around inside, Pearl cast one more look to the ceiling where her friend had been sucked into with longing eyes.

"I'll save you, Amethyst... I'll save you..."

* * *

"Council members! Look!" Paraiba pointed to the nearest view port. Everyone gathered around as much as possible to look outside. Their home planet could be seen in its full view, including the net of electricity that encased it.

"The lightning... it's fading?!" Citrine said. It was true, from the very edges of the planet's horizons, single lines of the lethal electricity were systematically flickering away. One by one, directly after the last.

"It's... it's unbelievable!" Emerald said, "Spodumene, your friends down there have done it!" Spodumene however was silent. She more intently watched how exactly each ray flickered away; one after the other, all around the horizons... and working their way in.

'Is that a... pattern?' she thought.

"Citrine, signal the fleet's scout ships to follow you down to the planet," Emerald ordered, "If you are actually able to land planet-side, signal the rest of the fleet."

"Yes Emerald," Citrine crossed her fist over her chest and departed from the room.

"I'll admit, I had my doubts about this whole thing..." Spodumene heard Emerald speak to someone, but the sound of the closing door told her that she had left; probably speaking to someone else. She however remained in the room, watching through the view port with her fellow tech-gems.

"So, the human and the Earth gems actually saved our planet?" Paraiba said, "I never thought I would say that aloud, much less see it... Spodumene?"

"What?" The sound of her name broke her from her gaze.

"Is everything alright?"

"Well yes..." Spodumene looked out again, "I am relieved to see that they succeeded, of course... I just can't shake this horrible feeling... Peridot, I want you to hold position in orbit above our planet. Do not follow the rest of the fleet planet-side, understand?"

 _"Um... Yes, Spodumene, I suppose?"_

"Good," Spodumene disconnected and lowered her arm-limb enhancer. The rest of the fleet may be on a one way course back down to the planet, but her and her tech gems could afford a delay. Something really didn't feel right, despite what was right before her.

The bolts of lightning were thinning out considerably, with only a few left and dropping. But that wasn't what Spodumene was interested in...

"Spodumene? Why exactly are we holding our position?" Paraiba asked.

"Something just... piques my interest is all..." Paraiba looked out the view port as well to where Spodumene looked.

"Like what?"

"Just look at the lightning down there," Spodumene pointed.

"It's... there?" Spodumene sighed in annoyance.

"Besides that, look at how exactly it's disappearing..." Paraiba now watched as closely as Spodumene did. Sure enough, the lightning was vanishing in a sort of order. As if it was all converging on one spot...

"Wait a minute..." Paraiba realized, "Isn't that where... the Citadel is?"

"It is," Spodumene replied with widened eyes. She accessed her enhancer again to send a fleet-wide message, "This is Council member Spodumene hailing the entire fleet: do not approach the Citadel! I repeat: Do not-" By now, the only lightning that remained anywhere one the planet was a single line, a single circle. But rather than vanish itself, the lightning suddenly shifted inwards towards the single focal point. A single dot of illumination on the planet-wide map of Crystarra. Spodumene, Paraiba, and presumably anyone else looking out of a view port watched with anxiously wide eyes. The fleet itself was bearing closer down upon the planet. It seemed they had received the message Spodumene had ordered and were veering off course from the Citadel.

Suddenly, the light that once lit up the single dot suddenly shot up straight into orbit. In just a few moments, that beam of light would be reaching where they were right now!

"Peridot! Evasive maneuvers, by Geode hurry!" Spodumene nearly screamed into her communicator, hoping and praying that she was not too late.

* * *

The elevator ride back to the surface was anything but pleasant; it was tense, anxious, nerve-racking, and off-putting. The numerous deep rumbles felt through the walls of the elevator weren't helping either. All occupants were breathing hard.

"We left her, Garnet," Pearl said with a broken voice, "how could we do that?"

"Pearl, I'm scared too," Steven tried to console, "I didn't like that we had to leave her, but..."

"We did not leave her," Garnet said to both of them, "She knows we would never do that."

"But... where is she? Where was she taken?" Pearl asked.

"My guess is the same place that Yellow and White Diamond went," Garnet remembered, "If we find one, we're sure to find the other." Her reasoning seemed to strike a chord with Pearl, and her sadness gradually faded. It was now replaced with determination and anger.

"That's right, they took her, didn't they?" she said to no one, "I'm gonna find them and make them give her back!" Steven looked like he would respond to that, but decided to hold his tongue. At that moment, the door to the elevator opened as well, showing them the comm room they were recently in. Unlike before, there was sufficient lighting to brighten the room, which only showed signs of a battle or scuffle had taken place.

"Whoa, is that...?" Steven rushed forward as he noticed something, or someone. Lying there next to the familiar console was Kyanite. She lay sitting against the wall next to the console with numerous crystal-like projectiles embedded in her body like those on the floor around her. One was even unfortunate to chip her gem located in her forehead. Steven reached her and supported her back with his arm.

"How... why would she...?" Kyanite weakly spoke.

"Hey um... Kyanite, right?" Steven remembered her name, "What happened to you?"

"... Human," Kyanite turned her head, "Mistress Diamond was here, her yellow and white forms, but..." By now Garnet and Pearl had reached them and were kneeling down to their level.

"They came through here?" Pearl quickly asked, "They had Amethyst with them; Where are they? Tell us!"

"They didn't say anything..." Kyanite slowly recounted, "Just looked at me, and..." her now damaged right arm and limb enhancer indicated to the numerous shards that dug into her, "Then they left... and then you showed up..."

"But where have they gone now?" Garnet asked.

"Is... is my gem cracked?" An instant poofing ended the interrogation, leaving Garnet, Pearl and Steven alone in the room with another gemstone. Carefully, Steven picked up the kyanite gem and placed it in the pocket that the ruby was in.

"Everywhere we go," he spoke softly, "gem after gem is just getting poofed..." He suddenly felt something on his arm. Garnet's hand pulled him by his arm back to his feet.

"We hoped you'd never be... exposed to this kind of stuff, Steven..." Garnet said, "But you can't let it get to you... None of us can. We need to stay strong and focused."

"Strong and focused..." Pearl softly repeated, "But now what, Garnet? Where do we go now?"

"We could..." Steven said, looking all around the room, "There! More of these shards!" He indicated to the open door and a number of diamond shards that were indeed going out the room.

"She's left an easy trail to follow!" Garnet said, "Nice find, Steven. Let's hurry!" The three darted out of the room and around the door to where the shards lay. In the hallways however, there were fewer to be found than when they were first seen, but there nonetheless. The trio ran down the hallways, feeling a sense of deja vu.

"Isn't this the way we came?" Steven asked.

"It is!" Pearl said, "They must have been heading for the main door!"

"But the emergency lock is in place, which means we'll have her cor-" Garnet stopped short, as did everyone else from running. They had reached the door again, and the giant bars were still in place, but at the very bottom crack where the two doors met was a giant hole. There were scratch marks and door pieces themselves scattered all outside.

"No way, she busted through?!" Steven started to walk forward.

"Steven wait!" Pearl said, "Those other gems might still be out there!"

"Heads up! Looks like they're out there now!" Garnet's pointed finger put the other two on alert. Pearl and Steven both summoned their weapons. Through the unorthodox crack, a darkened figure's shadow could be seen. It grew more and more thick, indicating that it was advancing through. Finally, a humanoid's solid form pushed through completely.

"Wait... you?" the figure spoke with confusion.

"You!" Pearl said to Citrine, then noticed the familiar form of Larimar entering behind, "You?"

"You?" Larimar said.

"What are you doing here?" Garnet asked.

"Are you joking? We came down as soon as it was clear!" Larimar said, "The blasted lightning is gone, no longer corrupting the Crystal Spires!"

"Wait, we did it?" Steven asked, "The planet is safe?"

"There's no time, we have to keep chasing after Diamond!" Pearl pushed past Citrine and Larimar to squeeze herself through the hole. Upon emerging, the very first thing she noticed was that the outside floor she now stood on was glowing, even the walls. She found herself walking backwards down along the steps as she gazed more upon the Citadel.

"Pearl wait!" she could hear Steven's voice call out. She felt his presence next to her, but did not bother to look down at him, "Hold on Pearl, you know it's hard to keep up... with... you," Steven followed her gaze at the Citadel. Not only was the entire structure illuminating its natural pale green color, but from the very peak was a single familiar ray of purple light shooting straight into the sky.

The stranger part of this however was what was around it. There were two things that were rising in the sky with it. The first was the upward spiraling form of a dark purple substance, while the other was a multitude of hundreds of tiny sparkles. Both of these rose in the sky as if the ray of purple light was guiding it.

"Ummm..." Steven struggled to find the right words, "Is that something you should see everyday...?"


	10. What happened?

Then, as quickly as they were there, the purple light from the Citadel's peak vanished. While it was no longer present, the swirls of purple liquid and the airborne sparkling objects continued their upwards floats until they vanished from sight deep through the clouds, two separate streams of solid and liquid that linked planet to sky.

"This... This is Citrine, hailing the gem fleet," Citrine spoke into her communicator without looking away, "Touch down was successful; No immediate hostiles or environmental hazards are currently in place... I am granting an all clear for the rest of the fleet. Repeat, Crystarra is clear."

 _'Understood Citrine.'_ Emerald's voice said, _'We will send word to send the other ships to secure the Capitol settlement, then work their way outward.'_

"I'll bring with me the infiltration group and join them."

"Wait what? No!" Pearl suddenly spoke up, "Is that Emerald-? Emerald listen, we here don't have time for that; we need a to use a shuttle of yours, we have to go after-!"

 _'Ummm... Negative Citrine, you're not to do that,'_ Emerald said, causing different levels of surprise from Citrine and Pearl.

"Come again?"

 _'While the rest of the fleet regroups back on the planet, it's requested that- no, it's imperative that you return to our ship with the infiltration team for debriefing."_

"Emerald?" Pearl said.

 _"Pearl,"_ Spodumene's voice was now heard, _"I think you'd agree with the importance of this news for you. What we have here that just came up is...Look, please join us back here on our ship?"_

"... Fine," Pearl said with a groan, earning her a look from Larimar.

"Affirmative, we will rejoin you shortly," Citrine spoke, "Well? Let's get moving." She motioned for them to follow, and the three slowly made their way down the steps along with her.

"So, you really managed to save our planet?" Larimar said out loud, "Impressive. I'm sure it'll be quite a story you'll tell to the council." Steven and Garnet remained neutral, but Pearl could not remove the scowl from her face.

'Perhaps we did save it,' she thought, 'but at too big a cost...'

* * *

The shuttle ride from the planet back into orbit was also tense and uncomfortable. The ride itself was much smoother and safer with no more lightning hazards. Still, every once in a while Citrine and Larimar would give the occasional small talk question between themselves, mostly regarding their flight path and ship status. The other three could now take this opportunity to collect themselves.

Nearly the entire trek through Crystarra's atmosphere, Pearl could barely stop squeezing the armrests on her chair as she stared out the central view port. She watched as a multitude of warships passed by them to return to the planet. She had to control herself, but her frustration and anxiety were mixing inside of her, a toxic mix. She held her, right there in her hand, and then she was taken from them!

She then felt something on her right hand. Looking over she saw Steven's hand on top of her's, with him looking at her with hopeful and sympathetic eyes. She sighed, letting a small bit of her grief out of her system; by Geode, how does Steven still manage to have such profound effects on her? On all of them?

Finally, their shuttle closed in on the warship. Unlike the others, this warship, which Spodumene had brought them to initially, remained stationary in orbit.

"Hey, why is there only one ship out here?" Steven asked.

"The council ordered the warship they were on to remain in position for some reason," Larimar replied. They calmly touched down in the hangar and exited. This time, the council members were standing in front of the entryway waiting for them. Spodumene was sporting a huge grin on her face.

"Steven, Garnet, and Pearl, you're back!" she said. Her smile faded slightly as she looked over their group, "But, where's Amethyst?"

"Spodumene," Pearl said, "She was taken! Those blasted Diamonds, they-"

"Pearl, slow down," Garnet's hand to her shoulder held her back.

"And Ruby Prime?" Emerald asked, "She did not make it?"

"Well, actually..." Steven reached both hands into his pockets, fishing for the three gems held within. He took great care when handling the three gems, not just for their face-value, but as common decency as well. All the eyes of the Crystarra gems widened, including Citrine and Larimar.

"By Geode, it can't be," Emerald held her hands out, "Give it here please." The boy carefully handed the diamond to Emerald, while the green gem continued to stare at it in awe, "Is this really... Blue Diamond?"

"Yeah, along with Kyanite and Ruby Prime here," Steven said, his open hands reminding them of that fact, "They got messed up pretty bad by those Diamonds, I think they've got some cracks on 'em-"

"Chrysoprase, take them please," Emerald ordered, barely shifting her eyes. The pudgier gem held her hands out unexpectedly, and Steven placed the other two gems in them. The gem clutched her fingers around them, a sharp contrast to the care that Emerald was taking with the blue diamond gem.

"Now then, Steven, Pearl, Garnet..." Spodumene started, then glanced to her fellow council members as if she'd remembered something, "Perhaps you'd better follow us... you know, for a proper debriefing..."

"Yes, I've been wondering about that myself..." Citrine said in a tone that spoke half to herself and half to the others. She dismissed Larimar, and the entire group were led back down the hallways they had once walked when they first arrived. Soon they arrived back in the room they'd first met the council in, where the aforementioned gems resumed their respective positions back around the holographic interface.

"Now then, before we disclose our news to you, it is best that you be allowed to speak first. In your own words please debrief us on your task. What happened down there?" Emerald said. Steven, Pearl, and Garnet each took heavy breaths. Slowly but surely, they recounted the details of their little expedition, starting at their departure from the ship, all the way to Citrine retrieving them. Garnet and Steven told the majority of the story, with Pearl occasionally filling in some gaps. Her not talking much was understandable, and the other two knew this. But she herself ended up covering the majority of the Diamond fight. The faces of the four council members steadily grew more concerned as the story went on. Eventually they wrapped up their tale, and allowed their listeners to soak it all in.

"So then..." Chrysoprase said, "What has Diamond done exactly? She completed what she initially was trying to do, yet the web of lightning around the planet is gone?"

"You're asking the wrong gems about that," Garnet noted.

"No no, um..." Emerald momentarily held her hand over her mouth as she looked down in thought, "Well, this news you've brought us in some ways is a relief of sorts, with-"

"Um, excuse me? No it was not!" Steven and Garnet watched as Pearl pointed an accusatory finger at the council, "Were you not even paying attention to us? Amethyst was taken, abducted! All for your foolish endeavor that really had no reason to involve us in the first place!" She huffed and breathed hard, then continued, "Now? I'm going to get her back, with your help or without!"

"Pearl?" Steven said.

"Pearl! Calm down!" Spodumene exclaimed, holding her palms up in front of her, "Now look, I am greatly sorry about Amethyst, I-"

"Are you?" Pearl sarcastically interjected.

"Really, I am," Spodumene continued, "... But now, we have something for you... something to show you all."

"Pearl please, we've talked about this," Steven said, "We're going to find Amethyst, but we can't lose ourselves now trying to do that!" Pearl looked at the boy, then up at Garnet to find her face unchanging. Sighing, she looked back at Spodumene.

"What do you have that's 'so' important?" Pearl air-quoted. Spodumene didn't immediately reply, but shared a certain look between Emerald and Chrysoprase. She stepped in front of the circular console in the center of the room behind her, held up her limb enhancer before it, and pressed a few buttons on it.

"Recently, maybe about twenty minutes ago..." Spodumene said, "Something happened up here in orbit... something that might be connected to what happened down there." Finishing, she lowered her arm, and the display on the console began to take on a new form, "I had a recording taken of the event as it happened."

 _"What was that?!"_ a voice was now heard. Everyone watched as a recording began to play on the small holo-screen before them. It showed of a warship's view port and directing the viewer's attention to something out of it, _"It almost hit us!"_

 _"Peridot, hold the ship steady!"_ Spodumene could now be seen stepping into view as she stepped up to the view port, _"By Geode... Pariaba, look!"_ The one who was directing the recording, Paraiba, moved alongside Spodumene as well. The view now showed further beyond the orbit they were in to where the beam of purple light reached and ended at. Once there, it stretched no further outwards, but instead began to grow in size. This bulb of light reached a certain size before the light that connected it from the planet itself suddenly winked out, with the bulb itself holding position.

 _"What... is happening?"_ Paraiba asked from behind, _"What is- Look!"_ Paraiba pointed off to the side view port. Outside, massive free-flowing forms of what looked like liquid floated through space. It was almost as if they were being vacuumed towards the spherical light. Once the liquid reached the light, it began to consume it, swallow it, until the the liquid itself began to increase the overall size.

As the liquid flowed, something else could be seen. At first glance appeared to be nothing more than sparkling glitter. Until Spodumene realized that the sparkles were actually a smaller form of something else- crystal shards of various sizes were also being drawn towards to where the light was. They joined with the dark plasma by slamming themselves into it and sinking within.

 _"Dark plasma, and crystal shards?"_ Paraiba asked, _"Are they... merging?"_ Spodumene in her state could give no answer. The once formless image of dark plasma and crystal shards now appeared to be taking shape; that of a... creature.

From their angle, they could see crystal looking 'spikes' emerging from the back of the creature itself. Each one seemed to glow a stark white, punctuated against the pure black of space. The spikes along its back seemed to go on and on, until the two realized that this shape was now forming appendages. At this point, the image of the recording showed very subtle signs of shaking.

 _"Spodumene?"_ Paraiba said, _"I think the council needs to see this..."_

 _"... Agreed,"_ Spodumene replied. She slowly raised her limb enhancer arm up, when a noise was heard behind them. The two almost jumped in surprise and spun, only to find that the council themselves had just entered the room.

 _"Spodumene! That beam of light, it almost hit us!"_ Chrysoprase said as she walked closer to where the two were. She looked like she would follow up with something, but immediately stopped when she looked out the view port as well.

 _"By Geode, what is that?!"_ she pointed out.

 _"We don't know!"_ Paraiba said. By now the spikes along the creature's back became more prominent and jagged. But among all of them, two of them stood out the most; two four-sided crystals that appeared to erupt from what looked like the shoulders. Other small ones jagged crystals lined its back all the way down the length of its very long tail.

 _"I... th-that is..."_ Emerald started to say, until something else cut her off,

 _'This... This is Citrine hailing the gem fleet,'_ The camera shifted back to the console, and its user then disconnected the feed.

The video finally finished, and none of the four that had come from the planet's surface remembered to close their mouths. The council members' faces however were completely morbid.

"It seems things keep going from bad to worse..." Spodumene said. For the first time since she arrived back on ship, Pearl's demeanor was different from before.

"That... is a GRAND understatement!" she exclaimed, "What IS that thing?! Is- is it still there, in orbit?!"

"I'm somewhat relieved to find you're taking a mild interest in this," Emerald said, "Does that mean we can count on you to stay for a while longer?" Pearl hesitated while looking at them, but still nodded her head once, "Good, now fortunately it neither seems to be moving, nor is aware of our very presence. Set course planet-side, but fly cautiously... Let's use this time to make sense of this insanity..."


	11. Regroup and reform

The new plan was made then and there: return to the planet's surface for regrouping and new strategy development. The gems of Crystarra were eager to get underway, and for once the gems from Earth gave no opposition. No one knew what to make of what happened the last few minutes, so any news was good news.

It was nervous at first, to be flying back down to the surface. After all, their first time going down there was anything but pleasant. They had to be reminded that the threat of lightning hazards were no longer present. The trip to the planet's surface this time was much more smooth and transitional.

Peridot piloted the warship down, but not in the direction of the Citadel. This time, Steven, Pearl, and Garnet were treated to a completely different view: miles away from the Citadel was a small sprawling city. Buildings of various heights and colors could be seen, with random ones having lights that were on or were flashing back on. Some of these buildings were made of hardened sand of the planet, while others were simply hollowed out crystalline buildings. It was obvious that power had been restored to some of them, while others were still being worked on by the inhabitants.

The city did in fact have inhabitants as well. Many gems were present in this location going from place to place. With the warships parked onto a nearby massive landing platform off to the far side, it was obvious where these had come from. A few seconds within, Peridot announced their clearance for landing. They touched down much more gently, and everyone departed from the warship.

All the inhabitants on board the ship took their leave, and were immediately beset upon by fellow gem comrades.

"Gem council! Gem council!" a brightly colored orange gem addressed them, "What happened just now? That planetary lightning is gone? For how long?"

"Did these gems have anything to do with it?" another gem indicated to the Earth gems.

"And is happening to the dark plasma?" The entire greeting party might as well have been an insane mob from their relentlessness alone. The four council members were almost overwhelmed, yet still managed to remain cool and appear professional.

"We do intend to have a formal addressing of the situation in, perhaps... one hour's time," Emerald announced, "And all us council members will be presenting it. For now, return to your assigned duties..." The group slowly began to scatter at the order, "Chrysoprase, see to it that Ruby Prime is restored and then both of you rejoin us... and take them with you." Her finger pointed to the Earth gems.

"What? Why?" Pearl asked.

"Don't worry, we will meet up with you later," Spodumene reassured them, "Once we again have a firm bearing on the situation."

"In case you haven't noticed, we've just regained our home planet," Citrine added, "Order must be restored." With that, Emerald, Citrine, and Spodumene took their leave, with a majority of the other gems breaking off with them and swamping them with questions and updates.

"On our own again, looks like..." Steven shrugged. He looked back and all around, feeling like he was finally studying this new world in earnest, "So... where are we now? Some kinda gem airport?"

"Not quite something I remember, but from the looks of it..." Garnet pointed out along the long, stretched plain of smooth cut stone, and all the familiar gem warships that were lined up side by side. Some of the gems that had scattered went over to these massive ships, looking them over, tinkering them in various ways.

"Chrysoprase! You've returned!" Their attentions turned to a light purple gem addressing the cream gem, "You must hurry! The infirmaries are stocked over with gems in need of repair, and having you on site would be most helpful!"

"Indeed? Well then, I'll be right there," the relieved purple gem turned and rushed off somewhere, with Chrysoprase turning to the Earth gems, "Well? You three'd best come with me. And from the looks of it, some of you could use some repair..." Her last comment was just snide enough to send an agitated chill down their backs.

"Wait, don't tell me we have to walk all the way there, do we?" Steven asked, earning him a raised eyebrow from Chrysoprase.

"Walk? All that distance? Now why would we do that?" Her hand gestured to a line of teleporters, similar to theirs back on Earth.

"Oh! You've got those teleporters here, too?"

"Crystarra is the planet that teleport pads came from..." Chrysoprase nearly deadpanned.

"Oh yeah, makes sense I guess..." the boy rubbed the back of his head. The group then made their way to an open teleporter, and let its light engulf them. When the light cleared a rather quick second later, they now stood inside of a building. The place closely resembled a common hospital. It was also packed heavily, with half of its gems rushing this way and that, and the other half either as gems or being healed as gems.

"So many gems..." Steven said as they slowly stepped off the pad, "They all look injured. Were they also infected by that dark plasma?"

"Chrysoprase! You've arrived!" one of the gems announced.

"Indeed..." Chrysoprase held out her hand to reveal the ruby, "and someone important requires healing."

"Is that...?"

"Yes, it's Ruby Prime!" Chrysoprase answered, then held her other hand out to Steven, "Here human, take this." Steven's hand quickly took the kyanite gem. He looked down at the gem in his hand, his mind slowly catching up to what just happened so fast.

"W-Wait! C-Chrysoprase, what about Kyanite here?" he called out.

"Do not bother me with triviality!" the cream gem dismissed with a wave of her hand, even as she didn't even bother to look, "This takes priority!"

"What? Come on!" Steven insisted, "Kyanite here needs to be healed! Her gem is all scratched up, see...?" But Chrysoprase had already disappeared into the chaos of the other gems in the hospital. With a huff, he turned back to his two gem guardians, "Guys? I can't just... I have to do something!"

"Steven, aren't you forgetting that you can...?" Garnet suggested.

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Steven's starry eyes lit up, "Why do I always keep forgetting that?!" He held the gem in the palm of one hand, then openly licked his other one, "Come on, work...!" He pressed both palms flat against the gem for a second before releasing one. After a moment of suspense, the kyanite began to glow its dark blue color and levitate from his hand. The three watched as the blue light took corporeal form once again of Kyanite.

"Mistress Diamond, why?! I..." Kyanite immediately took her form crying out frantically, before suddenly getting her bearings, "My limb enhancers! Where are-... Wait, where am I? A healing ward?"

"That's right, I healed you!" Steven's announcement caused Kyanite to turn around and eye him. Her eyes then looked straight up at her forehead and her fingers on one hand rubbed her gem.

"My gem... healed... You healed me?" she asked, to which the boy nodded, "I... don't know what to say..."

"Perhaps a thank you," Garnet muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

"Did you see that?" Another voice got their attention. A small number of gems standing nearby had stopped their own healing operations to watch. Many eyes were widened, and many mouths struggled for words.

"Did that human just..."

"Unbelievable..."

"But how?"

"That's not possible!" The remarks became numerous and just like before, the three found themselves surrounded by gems just like outside. That is, until one of them stretched her rather large, bulky arms out to both clear a path to them, and to get their attention.

"Alright, settle down, you all! There's no need to get so worked up!" the teal colored gem spoke, "Resume your duties! There are gems that need healing, and neither me nor Chrysoprase can do it alone!" The gem's words seemed to calm the crowd, and they quickly moved back to where they came from, "Now, Kyanite? How fortunate to have a tech gem here and whole; The basic systems for this ward need someone to look over them."

"Ah," Kyanite glanced at Steven's group once, "Alright, I'll see what needs to be done... Hopefully there'll be some limb enhancers as well... And, I suppose you have my gratitude as well, Steven."

"Oh it was no trouble at all!" Steven smiled. With that Kyanite marched and vanished into the crowd. Now alone, the remaining four looked at each other.

"I apologize for the chaotic appearance you see here... I mean, you can probably imagine how worked up everyone is right now, being forced off of your planet, the fates of some of your comrades unknown, and only now being able to come back..." she sighed and shook her head, "It's... exhilarating to say the least..."

"I imagine this would break your boredom, Beryl," Pearl spoke up, for once her tone not as dark as before.

"Beryl?" Steven said, "Is that your name?"

"Yes, human, I am a Beryl; proprietor of this healing ward," Beryl said, "And I am quite familiar with Pearl and Garnet here, but I can't say I'm familiar with you..."

"Oh I'm Steven! Steven Quartz Universe!" he almost moved to stick out his hand, but caught himself.

"Steven... Quartz," Beryl's eyes narrowed, "Why do you bear the same name as a... Rose Quartz?"

"Oh, um..." Steven held his tongue this time before speaking. He turned his head to Garnet as if seeking her approval, which she eventually nodded to, "Rose Quartz... is my mother, and here..." he lifted the front hem of his shirt, "is her gem." Beryl leaned in closer, and her narrowed eyes now widened a little.

"There is no mistaking it... that is her gem," she looked back at him with a serious face, "You know, while Rose Quartz was one of the greatest traitors to our kind..." The implication in her voice was heavy enough to sting, "I still found her to be a worthy... colleague. She was also one of the great healers here. You could say I respected her..."

"Really?" Steven said, "You and my Mom were friends?"

"Of a sort..." Beryl leaned back from him, "Like I said, we were colleagues in our field." Suddenly, she glanced behind her, as if just reminded of the chaos in this hospital ward, "Well, I suppose I should get back to healing the survivors..."

"Wait!" Steven spoke up before she could walk away, "Could I uh... help with anything? Maybe heal some other gems?" This earned him a look from the teal gem.

"You want to... heal our gems?"

"Sure! We're all gems here, so we should all be in perfect shape!" Steven said, "Plus I know about the dark plasma thing, and I wanna try and do something for the gems affected."

"Hmmm," Beryl pondered, "Dark plasma taints are not a primary concern at present... but perhaps you could assist with follow-ups?"

"Follow-ups?"

"Healing gems is hardly a problem," Beryl explained, "But we could always use someone to repair any minor damages these gems may have sustained."

"So I'd be doing the second-rate healing?" Steven asked, "Sounds good! Anything to help gems out!" He looked back at his guardians, "Are you guys coming with?"

"We might as well," Pearl said, "Not like we have anything else to do..."

"Still playing the role of bodyguards, are you?" Beryl asked, to which the other two said nothing, "At any rate, come with me human..." She led them along the walls to where gems were either waiting to be healed or currently being healed. Unknown to them, Chrysoprase was casting glances at them in between her own work.

"What are that human and his gems doing..." she wondered out loud, "Oh, nevermind; Ruby Prime?" Before her the short red gem was flexing her arms and her fingers.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," she said, "Just good to be back is all. But... why am I in a healing ward?"

"Perhaps there are a few recent things you should be made aware of..." Chrysoprase said to her.

* * *

"Are we certain of this?" Citrine said. She, Emerald, and Spodumene stood outside of a circular shaped encasing that, despite having a low roof and slightly raised floor, appeared to be lacking walls. They watched as two Agates carefully held the bubbled blue diamond gem between their palms and move it to the center space.

"Our ray fields were created specifically for gem containment," Spodumene evenly reasoned.

"Never did I think Mistress Diamond herself would ever need to be contained..." Emerald said, "I just have a feeling anything could happen..."

"We'll soon find out..." By now, the two Agates had de-bubbled the blue diamond in the center of the floor, and moved out of the perimeter, "Agates, activate the field!"

One of the Agates nodded and pressed the palm of her hand to a hand-shaped holo-panel. Immediately, a cylinder of faded, light yellow light connected the circular top and floor. All gems watched the blue diamond in anticipation for something, but for a handful of seconds, nothing did happen; the gem remained stationary, unmoving.

"... Nothing's happening," Emerald said.

"So, should we wait for something?" Spodumene asked.

"No, the three of us don't have time to wait for something to happen. We have one very important matter to attend to," Citrine said, now addressing the pair of Agates, "You two remain on constant vigil; contact us immediately if anything changes." The two Agates saluted a fist over their chests, and the three council members took their leave from the room via teleporter.

In an instant, the trio now stood in a completely new setting: a crystalline library, with hundreds upon hundreds of shelves of various books and texts stored.

"The Grand Library..." Emerald said as the walked forward, "Surprising that this of all places isn't badly damaged." To prove her point, several gems were running this way and that cleaning up knocked over texts from the floor and cracks in the walls. There were no where near the numbers that had initially greeted them outside, but they nonetheless worked tirelessly and diligently with their tasks.

"Ah, the Gem Council is here?!" a voice exclaimed. The three turned to face the source: a yellow-shaded gem with a gemstone in place of where a right eye would've been, "How thoroughly unexpected! Why if I had known you'd be coming here, I would have-"

"Yellow Spinel, please," Citrine cut her off, "Time is of the essence here; We've come because we are in need of something- information, which we hope can be found here..."

"Oh, of course!" Yellow Spinel snapped her fingers. Instantly, a group of other gems who were currently policing the Library joined her where she stood, "As the Library's head keeper, I, and my assistants, would be happy to assist. Now, what is it exactly that you require?"

"Answers, mostly," Emerald said, "However, if only there were a better way to exactly describe our question... Spodumene, show the recording." Spodumene stepped forward, held up her limb enhancer, and projected the recording she had taken. The other gems watched intently, At first Yellow Spinel's eye showed intrigue, then rapidly grew more concerned. When the recording ended, the only other gem who had spoken so far was left nearly at a loss for words.

"By the cosmos..." she said, "Was that... 'thing' real?"

"We were hoping you would tell us," Citrine reminded her.

"Yes, of course!" Yellow Spinel snapped her fingers, and her assistants scattered in multiple directions. Each one took a section of the library's tall, wall-side bookshelves and searched frantically. The Council followed Yellow Spinel as she chose a section to search. She then paused in front of the shelf, and her eye-gem began to glow. The light it produced was a thin, focused spotlight that hovered over section after section of books.

"Well, you may not think it now," Yellow Spinel said aloud, "But this Library was actually in far worse shape when we arrived back here. Multiple shelves were cracked, chipped, or damaged immensely, and that's not even counting for the Library's overall structural damage..."

"Do you have a technician or repair gem here?" Spodumene asked.

"Yes, I believe," Yellow Spinel replied while keeping her focus, "She's down below doing whatever she can for the Library's power systems..."

"Have her send a report to me when given the chance," the fusion said.

"Yes Spodumene," Yellow Spinel's eye stopped glowing, "Hmmm, there's nothing on this shelf of relevance... Perhaps we should try over-" The sound of fingers snapping got her's and the council's attention. A nearby gem of purple color was waving for them, nonspeaking, but with eyes filled with urgency, "Purple Sapphire? You've found something?" She nodded, and the group quickly moved to join her. The purple gem pointed to a single book in front of her, dark blue with red outlines.

"That's- that's for ancient myths and legends," Emerald looked closer, "How could this have what we seek?"

"Perhaps we should look and find out," Citrine reached up and removed the book from the shelf. She held it before her so all behind her could see, and opened to the first few pages. At first there was nothing helpful, save for ancient stories of the supposed precursors who were the originators of their kind. Citrine turned a page midway through the book, then froze, eyes glued to the open page before her.

"That?" Emerald said, "That is classified as 'ancient'?"

"And if this text is to be believed," Citrine said, "Predating thousands of years..."


	12. Sense from insanity

"Wow! Such a fancy place!" Steven looked all around. The work of secondary healing for gems was finally done, yet he couldn't have felt prouder of his work. Chrysoprase even gave him a passing compliment for all the flawless gems to emerge from the healing ward.

With all that out of the way for now, Chrysoprase led Steven and his gems, as well as Ruby Prime to another building in this city. This one differed from the others with its strange crystalline and other-worldly metallic blends. It's as if it begged to stand out in comparison to the others.

"We are in this city's main hall, Steven," Pearl said.

"A place for politics, and constant bickering," Garnet added.

"Politics that have guided and served all of gem-kind for untold number of years," Chrysoprase snidely added, "Gem Council! Here we are!"

The other three members of the council turned to acknowledgement them. They were currently being spoken to by a handful of tech-looking gems before they stepped away from them to fiddle with something. A set of devices with lenses on their fronts, able to to rotate 360 degrees around whoever stood upon another round, glowing platform.

"Chrysoprase, and Ruby Prime as well?" Emerald said.

"Yep, here we are!" Ruby Prime answered, "Chrysoprase told me all about what happened. Are we ready to actually do something?"

"Not so fast, Ruby Prime," Citrine held up her hand, "There are a few things we'd like to discuss first, before our broadcasting; that includes you too, Chrysoprase." The two gems shared looks of confusion, but nonetheless moved to join them. They did not move far away this time, rather, they all huddled close off to the side yet within earshot.

Steven, Garnet, and Pearl watched as the group exchanged whispers, ranging from conspiring to gasps. After a while, the group broke away, revealing Chrysoprase and Ruby Prime's shocked and surprised faces.

"You're absolutely certain?" the cream gem asked, to which Emerald nodded.

"But... What was it? Where did it come from?" Ruby Prime asked.

"Um, hello?" Steven called out, "What was all that about? We're still kinda lost here!"

"Earth gems, apparently there's a-" Ruby Prime started, until one of the tech gems off to the side called attention to her.

"Gem Council? Ten seconds to live broadcast!" she announced.

"Blast it! Already?" Ruby Prime said, annoyed.

"Perhaps it is better this way," Emerald said as the five took their spot on the circular pad, "We can tell the Earth gems, and our own at the same time." Steven opened his mouth to try to pry more, until the surrounding lights in the room dimmed almost completely. While the lights around were lowered, the light from the pad the council members stood upon glowed brighter, until it was the only light source in the room. At the same time, the camera-looking devices around the pad began to rotate around them slowly, each one an equal distance from each other.

"This is a planet-wide message to all gems of Crystarra," Emerald announced. She spoke while looking straight ahead, occasionally looking off to different sides as if there were an audience before her, "The gem council is here and addressing you."

"Um, who are they talking to?" Steven whispered to Garnet and Pearl, not wanting to cause disruption. Garnet didn't say anything, but instead pointed towards the group of tech gems off to the side. One of them was watching the council themselves, while the rest gathered around a miniature holo-pad of the council being held in on of their hands, "Oh, so we're in the T.V. broadcast room itself? Cool!"

"Much more advanced than any television," Pearl quietly remarked.

"As we all know, something had activated the Crystal Spires and forced them to enter into what is being described as overload," Spodumene said, "But now, with hopefully everyone back on planet and accounted for, we're prepared to relay what exactly has happened recently. Ruby Prime?"

"Yes, that's right!" Ruby Prime took over, "I headed a small expedition down to the planet to see what could be done. Accompanying me was tech gem Kyanite, and... the gems from Earth." She trailed off as she extended her arm out towards the aforementioned gems off to the side. Her arm held for a handful of seconds before she motioned harder to them.

"Wait, you want us to-?" Pearl realized.

"Really? Come on guys, we'll get to be on T.V.!" Steven dragged the two along. The gem council carefully moved to grant the three space. Pearl and Garnet stood and looked out, but Steven nearly couldn't control his wonder, "Um, hello everyone! My name is Steven, and we are the Crystal Gems!" Pearl and Garnet shared looks with each other, then with shrugs they awkwardly smiled and waved outward at the audience that was not physically in front of them.

"We'd crash-landed on planet," Ruby Prime continued, "But we'd survived, and made our way to the Citadel, where we were beset upon by a multitude of corrupted gems! We were able to get past them, and then make our way down to the Citadel's Grand Energy Font. And it was there, my fellow gems, that we did in fact come across former Mistress Diamond! Actually, there were three of them there, different colored clones, yet all had the same eyes as those of a corrupted gem!

"All three of them were doing... something to the Font, changing it. Similar to the ones at the Crystal Spires? We're not sure; what matters is that we stopped them! That's right, we-"

"T-They completely destroyed them!" Citrine suddenly interrupted, "Eradicated them entirely, thus ensuring no further tampering with the Fonts... Isn't that right?" The gold gem trailed off her question while giving Ruby Prime a strange look. The shorter gem opened her mouth in response at first, but decided not to press the issue, at least not live. She shrugged, and nodded to the audience, which apparently pleased Citrine. She turned back to Steven and his gems, and with a wave of her hand, motioned for them to remove themselves from the glowing pad.

"Now then, my fellow gems," the green gem said, "A planet-wide calamity has been averted, but not without cost. Our scouts have reported to us that every font at every Crystal Spire has been temporarily drained, but are not unusable. Needless to say, every top measure will be taken to ensure that they are fixed, and that this problem does not rise again.

"However," she paused, "There is another bit of news. Something else has happened that... we feel must be brought to light. Spodumene?" The fusion nodded and accessed her limb enhancer again. Before them and everyone watching, a live image of the recording appeared. The sounds of gasps could be heard off to the side, obviously from the onlooking tech gems. Even Ruby Prime barely held a gasp from escaping.

"By Geode, that was this monster you spoke of?!" The recording finally reached its end, and Spodumene lowered her arm.

"That recording was taken mere moments before the Spires were... restored, as it were," Spodumene said, "What's more, whatever that thing was appeared to absorb the dark plasma directly into itself. The same could be said for the gems as well, which means we-"

"Wait, hold on," Steven suddenly spoke between himself and his gems, "What gems? Like, the corrupted gems? Is that why we haven't seen any of them around? Because it took them?" His eyes narrowed in thought, until the sound of a light gasp was heard. He and Garnet turned to look at Pearl, and saw her widened eyes and hand covered mouth.

"Amethyst... she's..." she suddenly seemed to remember the other two looking at her, "That's where she must be! The two Diamonds took her to that thing!"

"That is... crazy," Steven's eyes started to widen as well.

"Pearl," Garnet put her hand to her shoulder.

"Where else could she be, Garnet?" Pearl snapped, "Really think about it; Amethyst gets taken, along with all those other gems, at the very moment that thing appears?"

"I get it," Garnet said, "But you're emotional; you need to calm down, and we'll think up a plan..." Pearl fumed, but still tried to calm herself.

"We'll really need their help, won't we?" she asked, to which Garnet nodded. The white gem looked turned back to face the council.

"You all know what needs to be done, make it so," Emerald appeared to finish. At that point, the glowing pad beneath them dimmed, and the surrounding once again lit the entire room with its glow, "Earth gems, on behalf of myself, and of the gems of Crystarra, we extend our thanks to you for your efforts."

"Yes, spare us, alright?" Pearl quickly cut in, "Where has that thing gone now?"

"That 'thing'?" Emerald said, "You mean the... why do you want to know that-?"

"Because it took Amethyst!" she finally blurted out, grabbing the attention of a few tech gems from the other side of the room, "The Yellow and White Diamonds must have had Amethyst taken to that thing!" The gem council's eyes narrowed in confusion, even as they looked over to Garnet.

"That's what we speculate, at least," the crimson gem replied.

"Wait, the Yellow and White Diamonds?" Ruby Prime asked, "You said they were destroyed, now why are they saying they weren't?"

"Ruby Prime... Earth gems..." Emerald looked back and forth between them, appearing to struggle for the right words.

"Emerald?" Spodumene spoke up, "Perhaps I could explain the situation to them, and you all to her? You have duties that you must see to anyway..."

"Yes, I for one agree," Chrysoprase said, "With the duties part, anyway..."

"Very well," Emerald said, "I suppose we will talk later. Ruby Prime?" She and the other three council members walked away, leaving Spodumene with her old friends.

"There, a moment to ourselves," she said.

"Was there something wrong with Emerald?" Pearl asked, "She isn't usually this reluctant to share information."

"She's not," Spodumene insisted, "But this whole situation, I mean everything that has happened in the span of a mere few hours... It's clearly beyond most gems' comprehension."

"But you can tell us, right?" Steven asked, "Like where Amethyst is?"

"Amethyst..." Spodumene spoke, unconsciously glancing at Pearl, "I never wanted it to ever come to this, but... with Malganon, that may be a distinct possibility." The three of them blinked once.

"What... did you say?"

"Malganon," Spodumene said, "At least that's what that ancient text describes it as. It was said to have existed thousands of years before us gems came to be."

"But, it's just like any other gem monster, right?" Steven said, "We've fought those before on Earth."

"No, nothing on this level," Spodumene said, "Monsters we normally encounter are tainted by the dark plasma in some way or another. With Malganon... I have a feeling that dark plasma itself is its very life fluid." The eyes of the other three widened.

"You're kidding," Steven said, "Dark plasma is its blood?"

"... Yes, I suppose blood would be the organic equivalent," Spodumene said.

"This is all so... astounding to digest," Pearl took one step back and placed a hand to her head, "But, what could it possibly want with Amethyst?"

"Well, that's what seems strange," Spodumene said, "The gems of those other warriors, Diamonds included, were exposed to Dark Plasma, then subsequently made into drones; it would make some sense as to why it would take them, but Amethyst... Has she shown any irregular signs? Anything out of the ordinary for her?" The other three took a moment to think.

"Hmmm," Steven pondered, "I don't think so, I mean, sometimes she and Pearl would get into big arguments, but they sadly do that all the time before."

"That's-" Pearl started to protest, then calmed, "... That's not untrue. She and I sometimes couldn't share opinions, and her temper would flare!"

"And you think yours didn't flare as well?" Garnet asked.

"Garnet!" Pearl flustered.

"So, heated arguments?" Spodumene asked.

"Unfortunately," Pearl said, "After which she would do that strange movement of rubbing her stomach in front of me..."

"Wait, what?" Spodumene asked in a surprised tone, "Why would she do that?"

"It was a rather strange thing to do," Garnet said, "since her stomach was where she was hit by a hammer... made of..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened behind her visor. Steven and Pearl were not far from realization either.

"No way..." Steven said, "You really don't think... I mean something like that...!"

"A dark plasma construct still managing to taint her?" Spodumene finished, "Insane, I admit, but feasible. But what could Malganon want with Amethyst, with the minuscule taint of dark plasma about her?"

"That's what we're hoping, and waiting, for you to tell," Pearl reminded, "Or, better yet, if she was somehow... taken to that thing, we go up there and get her back!" Spodumene gave a quick sigh.

"You should know I'd do nothing less to get Amethyst back," she said, "but, we're not really in the best of conditions to go chasing after something of such magnitude-"

"Let us go, then!" Pearl interrupted, "Amethyst is our friend, so we should go rescue her!"

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Spodumene pressed, "Our ships? Nearly all of them are being repaired and retrofitted after what the lightning storms did to them!" Pearl's lips pursed, even as Garnet placed her hand to her shoulder, "Plus, there is also-"

"Spodumene?" The group turned to see that the other council members had joined them, "We have news, which you and your friends will likely want to hear as well."

"Emerald? What is it?"

"The situation has been discussed among us," Citrine said, "And, as per Ruby Prime's suggestion-"

"We should take the fight directly to that thing!" Ruby Prime cut in, "After all, it absorbing all the dark plasma has got something to do with gem corruption! Oh and, I suppose to save your friend as well..."

"So, you're gonna help the corrupted gems, and help us save Amethyst?" Steven asked, "Thank you! No- we owe you, like, two times the thanks!"

"Yes well, it probably won't be any easier..." Ruby Prime said.

"See, Spodumene?" Pearl said, "They of all gems are willing to help us out!"

"Pearl-" Spodumene said, "I wasn't against saving Amethyst! Just that... never mind. If this is really to be done, I should at least check on the repairs for our ships. You can join me if you wish."

"Going are you? Then I'll come along to mobilize the troops," Ruby Prime said, and the five of them exited the broadcast room.

"If it's quite alright with you," Chrysoprase said, "I'd like to leave as well. I'll need to see to it the other hospital wards are back to functionality." Citrine gave a nod to see her off, and the cream gem departed as well, leaving the last two council members in the room.

"So then... what do you think of this?" Citrine asked. Emerald held her chin between her finger and thumb in thought.

"I think..." she said, "That what they're hoping to accomplish is absolute insanity."

"I do not doubt that," Citrine admitted, "Still... it was insanity that brought us back to our planet, by Earth gems no less..."

"I just..." Emerald's eyes suddenly lit up, "It occurs to me; I would like to know more about the planet in question were about to journey out to."

"Very well, Emerald; What would you like to know about it?"

"Everything."


	13. The 'best' laid plans

"Right, back here again," Steven said as his group stepped off the teleporter. They had all returned back to the outdoor landing strips, where the ships had landed. Unlike before where they had shown signs of damage, numerous gems surrounded them and were feverishly repairing them.

"It looks like ship repairs are coming along nicely," Spodumene noted. It was true, a number of the ships just from first glance already appeared more pristine than before.

"Hey! You there, Ruby!" Ruby Prime suddenly called out. Many yards away, an almost identical-looking ruby gem was sparring with other warrior gems when Ruby Prime called out. She turned and waved her over, "I'd better see how they're doing; I'll catch up with you all in a moment..."

As they walked, Pearl's eyes drifted back and forth between different sized ships, from large capital ships to small fighters.

"So then, they ought to be space-worthy again by now, right?" She kept walking, but Spodumene tilted her head just slightly to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, at least one of these ships we could use to go up there and find Amethyst!" Pearl pointed up to the sky.

"Pearl..." Garnet started.

"Pearl, I want Amethyst saved just as much as you do," Spodumene evenly reasoned, "But we won't be able to do that if we literally aren't able to. Our ships still need- Paraiba?" Everyone stopped as a gem approached them, holding something in her hand.

"Spodumene, there you are, and..." she trailed off after one look at the last three, "the Earth gems."

"Who are responsible for liberating our planet," Spodumene quickly reminded.

"Oh y-yes! Of course!" Paraiba stammered, "You have our gratitude... and mine, Earth gems."

"This is Paraiba, one of my high ranking gem engineers," Spodumene introduced to her friends.

"Good to meet you, Miss Paraiba! I'm Steven!" the boy announced. His boisterousness nearly put the nervous tech gem at a loss for words.

"Yes, well... A-anyway, there is something that you really should see..." She led the group down the long lane that was the landing strip, past many ships in repair. As they walked, and passed by them, gems who looked up and noticed Spodumene quickly regarded them either with head nods or with salutes.

"What is it, Paraiba? Aren't the repairs coming along?" Spodumene asked.

"Well yes, repairs are well underway," the other gem replied, "But really, this is more to do with their armaments if anything..."

"Armaments?" Paraiba stopped and the group now stood before one of the massive warships, looking more or less in pristine condition.

"Alright, she's here; show it to her!" Paraiba called out to a green gem who was closest on the ground to her. The gem nodded and moved to a side compartment near where the group stood. It was positioned on the ship along the outline of what appeared to be a torpedo bay. She opened the hatch, revealing a familiar color of purple within.

"Wait, what are you doing?! There's dark plasma in-!" Before Spodumene could finish, chunks of solid shards broke from within and fell out to the ground. They shattered into many pieces upon impact, but to most gems' confusion, that was all that happened.

"Um... missiles made of glass?" Steven remarked.

"Is... Is that the dark plasma?" Spodumene asked.

"Yes, Spodumene," Paraiba replied, "Thankfully our ships' primary energy cannons are still functional, those whose weren't dependent on dark plasma; with the state it is in now, it's been rendered completely inert, useless even."

"I find that a bit hard to believe..." Garnet said to herself silently as she knelt down next to the broken pieces, "But it is different... its color is almost completely faded from it... black even." She rose to her feet and looked up into the sky above, "And if I had to make a guess, all that has something to do with it." Everyone around looked up at the swirling masses of dark plasma that were still rising in the air, all flowing towards that single point.

"You mean, with dark plasma rising in the sky, any that remains down here ends up like this?" Paraiba asked the crimson gem.

"It's possible..."

"Or rather, this is all scientifically impossible!" Paraiba said, "None of what's going on makes any sense!"

"Perhaps, but this day has certainly been filled with supposed impossibilities, hasn't it?" Spodumene reminded her counterpart.

"I suppose," Paraiba sighed, "For one thing, it's not everyday that one's home planet is saved by a pair of rogue gems..."

"A pair? Hey come on, don't say that!" Steven said, "Amethyst may have been... well, but she could still be alive!"

"Wait, what?" Paraiba now looked at him squarely, "The two of you had an Amethyst with you?"

"We still do, just as Steven-" Garnet said. However, as she gestured to the boy standing next to her, she noticed something, "Wait a minute, where's Pearl? Steven?"

"Pearl?" Upon realization, Steven looked all around, but could also see that Pearl was suddenly missing, "Wait, she was right here! Where did she go?"

"Spodumene! Spodumene!" The clanking of footsteps and someone's cry got their attention, and a familiar lime-green gem rushed up to them, "It's happened again! That blasted Pearl has done it again!"

"Pearl? Where is she, and what has she done?" Before Peridot could answer, the small sound of a running engine got everyone's attention. Everyone looked up just in time to watch as a small fighter soar through the sky, with the dark plasma convergence point clearly in its sights. It was at this point as well that there seemed to be less globs of dark plasma flowing upward...

"There! That's her right there in the fighter I was working on!" Peridot pointed.

"Pearl, no...!" Garnet said, "Why? Why did she have to rush off like that?!"

"Well she's done it now," Peridot smiled and rubbed her palms together, "I suggest we shoot her down; just give the order, Spodumene! The fighter would be unfortunate, but-"

"Whoa whoa, what?!" Steven cried out, "No way, you can't just shoot her down!"

"And why ever not, Terra native?" Peridot looked at the boy, "Her little act of petty theft of a Crystarra fighter only adds to her list of known crimes! Why should we-"

"Because..." Spodumene spoke up, "It's... the first phase... of the attack!" Steven and Garnet looked at her with confusion, as did the other gems.

"Spodumene," Peridot said, "Would you care to clarify?"

"I mean," Spodumene looked around, as if reminded of her tech gem colleagues also present, "That thing up there is to be dealt with immediately, and it just so happens that Pearl is among the first to advance! I want a contingent of warriors accompanying her, and any repaired ships are to join as well!" Everyone stared, dumbfounded, especially Steven and Garnet. After a second, the surrounding tech gems scrambled back to resume their repairs, even a fuming Peridot as well.

"Now then..." the yellow fusion motioned for the other two to follow her, "That should help a bit..." She led them out of the hangar they were in and down the path, passing by similar ones and ships off to the side.

"Is that really your plan, Spodumene?" Garnet asked as they walked, "Sending many gems into orbit to 'maybe' destroy that thing?"

"I will be honest with you, pressing an attack was not my intention at all," Spodumene admitted, "But if I hadn't done something right then, as council member I'd have to authorize for Pearl to be shot down..."

"So, that was just a cover?" Steven asked, to which Spodumene nodded, "Then that means we can go ourselves to save Amethyst and Pearl, right?"

"Actually Steven, Garnet," the tone in Spodumene's voice had changed, and the two realized that she had stopped walking and stood before a single, isolated fighter, "This is where we must part for now."

"What?"

"I mean... I'll be going up there... by myself," Spodumene said, earning her widened eyes from the other two, "I'm sorry, but it has to be me."

"Spodumene, it doesn't have to be this way," Garnet said, "We'll come with you."

"Look around you, Garnet," Spodumene indicated to the near vacant lot behind her, "Pearl took off in a Crystarra single-gem fighter, which are far too fast for any of our other craft to keep up with!"

"Well then, we can fly there together, can't we?" Steven asked.

"That would be quite impossible, Steven," the fusion-born said, "The space inside is cramped, even for fusions like me and Garnet. They were made for gems of smaller build, and of course those actually experienced in flight..." She cast a look to Garnet, who was about to say something, but her words died in her throat.

"I guess... It really has to be you then?" Garnet sighed.

"I was trained in ship piloting, so... yes."

"Then, just be very careful, Spodumene," Steven said, and before either gem could say anything, wrapped his arms around one of her legs, "Too many friends are being taken from us, and I don't wanna lose you as well."

"Oh! Um, I will Steven," the fusion-born replied, while her look at Garnet clearly held confusion, "But I must go now, lest Pearl get in deeper trouble." With that, Steven released himself, and Spodumene climbed into the fighter. From the clear view of the cabin windows, Steven and Garnet could tell from seeing Spodumene's cramped form that she wasn't joking about it being cramped. Still, she powered up the fighter with little difficulty, and Steven and Garnet backed away to allow her to launch. The familiar whine of the fighter's engines filled the air, and it soared forward and hung straight up. Steven and Garnet left the hangar to watch as the figure became smaller in the sky.

"Pearl... I hope she catches her, Garnet," Steven said.

"It's... out of our hands for now, Steven," Garnet replied, "But I'm confident that she'll find her, and Amethyst too."

"Yeah, you're right!" Steven agreed, "Now, what do we do?"

"Hey, there you two are!" Steven and Garnet turned to see Ruby Prime approach them, "I was wondering where you two went, and didn't know if you both had joined the attack party."

"Attack party?" Steven asked.

"You didn't know?" Ruby Prime asked, "The order's been given! Whatever that thing is in sky has nearly sucked up all the dark plasma it can, which cannot be good. So I dispatched a carrier ship of what warrior gems were available to..." As she talked, she pointed up to the aforementioned carrier ship on a beeline course for the anomaly, until something else caught her eye, "Wait... who's that? Is there someone else up there?"

* * *

Various buttons beeped all around her. Some were for tedious ship notices that she didn't have the time nor bother to regard, while others seemed to be in protest to the fact that this ship was not taken legally. She did her best at silencing them by pressing them, but it was all guess-work with her not being an experienced pilot.

None of this mattered to Pearl; this ship she was in was space worthy, and she could fly it... hopefully. She would quickly land on that thing, find Amethyst, and get off, blowing all caution to the wind.

'An easy plan,' the voice in her head said, 'So why leave Steven and Garnet?' Her own thought caused her to grimace, leaving her two dearest friends behind on a planet that is home to... gems who at least now did not want to see them shattered at first glance. Would they really be fine, while she was off doing the more important thing?

"No, no what I did was right," she voiced aloud, "Steven and Garnet can protect each other... But how can they not see how urgent this was? We have to save Amethyst! I have to save Amethyst! I made a pro-"

 _"Attention Crystarra fighter, do you read me?"_ a familiar voice cut through on her speaker, _"Pearl, are you there?"_

"Spodumene?" Pearl said in surprise, "How are you...? Where are you-?

 _"Pearl! By Geode what are you doing!?"_ the fusion-born's frantic voice nearly shouted, _"Turn around and come back down to the surface! The four of us can properly formulate a plan of attack!"_

"I've already got a plan," Pearl said, "Steven and Garnet... They just don't understand! I made a promise! I'm just going to fly up there, find Amethyst, and bring her back down! Then the four of us are leaving and will not have anything to do with-!"

 _"Pearl this is complete insanity and you know it!"_ Spodumene interrupted, _"Steven and Garnet are now worried about you as well!"_

"But not you, though?" Pearl countered.

 _"I'm actually in the fighter that's closing in fast behind you..."_ Pearl's eyes widened and she quickly turned her head to look over her shoulder. Through the racing thin clouds that past her, there was indeed another ship back there, closing in with speed that was a little faster than her own. Instinctively, Pearl tried to engage her thrusters, then panicked as she realized she did not know exactly to do that.

"No! Get away from me!" Pearl protested, "I have this under control!"

 _"Do you even have a plan beyond flying towards that thing?!"_ Spodumene insisted, _"It's not too late; just turn around so we can-"_ A shock of turbulence interrupted her, and shocked Pearl into an alert state. Before her, the singularity was now massive in size, and coated with stark white crystals with a hint of purple in them. Up close, the object was now as big as an asteroid, spiked with jagged crystals and... extensions? Pearl watched as sections of this body began growing away, almost like appendages...

"What is that thing?" she said to herself. Suddenly, the appearance of light got her attention. This light came two particular crystals that were far larger than the others and glowing stark white. It was when they stopped growing to a certain length that Pearl noticed the extensions had also stopped growing. Two of them were now in the shape of arms, while a third one was stubby.

 _"Pearl I do not like this,"_ Spodumene's voice reminding her that she was still there, _"Just turn around before something-"_ The two larger crystals suddenly erupted with red lightning that shot in alarmingly random directions. Pearl gasped as the strikes began striking far too close to her own ship for her liking. She gripped her controls and turned left and right, dodging as many as she could.

The sound of an explosion drew her attention behind her. Quickly looking back, she saw what had exploded, and the resulting metallic shrapnel and flames flying from it. One of the red lightning strikes had scored a direct hit on a ship behind her... Wait, a ship behind her?

"Spodumene? Spodumene!" Pearl cried into the ship's speaker, "That wasn't you, was it? Are you still there?!" Heavy static filled the ship's cabin and for a moment, Pearl feared the worst, until she heard a voice,

 _"-ook out-!"_ Pearl's world rocked violently all around her. The world outside the ship spun completely out of control as she spiral-dove towards the object. She tried to pull as hard as she could on the controls, but everything was unresponsive. Looking out, it was clear now that she would crash, with very slim chances that she might survive.

'What do I do?' she frantically thought, 'What do I do?!'

* * *

"By Geode, what is..." Kyanite breathed. She watched the strange object in the sky as it transformed drastically. In her dumbfounded state, she almost didn't register that powerful bolts of red lightning were erupting in directions all over... that is until they started to get close to her own carrier!

"Kyanite! What's happening?!" the blue gem heard a voice of a gem warrior behind her.

"Everyone brace!" she cried out. She clutched her controls much harder to try an stabilize the ship. Unfortunately, the massive carrier she piloted was too heavy and bulky for skillful maneuvering as a fighter ship. The carrier only slightly drifted to the side at her command, but the bolts of red lightning were much faster. She looked up through her view-port one last time to witness one of them beeline straight for her, until her entire world exploded around her.


	14. A new foe awakens

The explosion, seen from miles away in the sky, rocked Steven and Garnet as they watched on the ground.

"Pearl!" Steven cried out, "Is she..."

"No, Steven," Garnet quickly said, "She couldn't be..."

"By Geode, what was that?!" Ruby Prime cried out as well, "What is that thing doing?!" Her answer came as the anomaly slowly, but dramatically shifting form. Two long appendages on each side curved and bent into arms. It was then that the arms seemed to change color tone as well, subsequently with other parts of the body changing as well.

The color scheme of the object was now drastically changed: it now appeared to be a dark, almost black body, a back coated with many large, white jagged crystals, and two massive crystals glowed with an outline of bright red.

Steven, Garnet, and Ruby Prime continued to watch, when suddenly everyone's hand shot to their ears. A sound, a deafening roar echoed all through out the ground.

"Argh! Too loud!" Steven cried out. It took him one second to realize that the noise was gone. Looking back up, the object in the sky was gone as well, vanished from sight. The three stood in place, shocked and shaken from what just happened.

"... Garnet?" Steven asked.

"That thing... it flew away..." she said.

"This... this is..." Ruby Prime quietly said, then pressed a finger to the side of her head "This is General Ruby Prime to all forces: cease all preparations to attack. I repeat: refrain from any attacks until a change of order is given." She then looked at the other two, "We should probably get back to the council, and... tell what just happened..." With a nod from both, Ruby Prime led the way back.

* * *

By now, everyone in the once-destroyed council room released their hands from their ears. Only a moment ago, while an assortment of gems were diligently cleaning and repairing the room as best as they could, a thundering yet still ear-piercing sound cut through the air, stopping everyone from what they were doing. The sheer vibrations were felt by everyone and everything, with lights flickering along with the holographic display of a star system from the projector in the room's center. Now though, Emerald, Citrine, and the other working gems were relieved when the sound had lifted, yet still left them all confused.

"What in all the cosmos was that...?!" Emerald protested.

"At this point, Emerald, nearly anything would surprise me..." Citrine said.

"Emerald, Citrine!" one of the working gems called out, "Out there! That thing that was in the sky, with the dark plasma flowing into it- it's gone!"

"What? Gone?" Citrine asked.

"Yes! The sky is completely clear now!"

"Then, does that mean-" The sound of a door opening drew everyone's attention. Walking through the door were Ruby Prime, Garnet, and that human boy Steven, all with strange looks on their faces.

"Emerald, Citrine," Ruby Prime said. It was then that Emerald noticed the surrounding gems had ceased their repairs, opting instead to stare at the two beings from Earth. Some faces were of concern, others were of worry.

"Do not stop your work on their account!" Emerald called out, causing everyone to snap back to attention, "Now- wait, where's Spodumene?"

"Spodumene..." Steven said, "She's not here because... well..."

"Because what, human?" Emerald asked.

"Spodumene had issued an order of attack on that anomaly," Ruby Prime explained, "Thus a carrier ship of warrior gems, piloted by Kyanite was sent up there. Unfortunately, I saw it be obliterated by lightning from that thing."

"And Spodumene went up there as well, because..." Steven hesitated with a glance to Garnet, "Because Pearl also went up there as well..."

"Spodumene issued an order of attack without our consents?" Citrine asked, "Your Pearl planned to attack solo? Without support from either of you? Why could this be, I wonder?"

"Let's just say it's complicated, and leave it at that," Garnet said, "Furthermore, what we know is that Spodumene followed right behind her."

"Then, what's to say that Spodumene wasn't also destroyed?" Citrine asked, earning her widened eyes from Steven.

"No, no! Come on!" Steven protested, "Why be so quick to think that she's destroyed?!"

"I'm sure if she weren't destroyed, we would've heard from her, wouldn't we?" Citrine asked, "As a council member, especially, she had a responsibility to-"

"Um, excuse me, council members," a voice spoke up. Everyone turned their heads to one of the working gems off to the side; a dark purple gem, who quickly grew self-conscious to the eyes on her, "Forgive the impertinence, but as a member of Spodumene's tech division, I do happen to know that Spodumene built a tracker into her limb enhancer. In fact, she suggested to myself and my colleagues that we do the same."

"Really?" Emerald asked, her hand motioning her to join them, "And what are you suggesting?"

"Well, if you'll permit me..." she accessed the glowing terminal connected to the council table before her, "If I just enter the correct numerical sequence..." Her fingers skittered across the numbers for a few seconds, then stopped as she looked up. Everyone else also looked at the new holographic display above the table.

At first however, nothing appeared clear at all; just a swirling mess of colors and static. Very slowly, the colors appeared to straighten themselves out, and the static began to fade away. Finally a green circle blinking repeatedly could be seen, with strange lines of white all around it.

"There, that's it!" the gem declared, "That's Spodumene's limb enhancer signal!" Everyone else stared at the image.

"Well, that may be the signal," Citrine said, "But how would you know if Spodumene is alive?"

"Because the indicator is green, see?" the gem pointed out, "And it blinks when it senses motion, which means that Spodumene must be on the move..."

"There, you see, er Citrine? That should be all the proof you need!" This earned Steven a fuming look from Citrine, who also seemed to direct it at the purple gem as well, "Alright then, where is she? Zoom in on her, or something, so we can see!" The purple gem tried, only to grimace as the image remained in place.

"I... I can't..." she said, "I can't get a clear image of her; something is blocking visual!"

"What? Well then, how can we...?" Steven tried to think.

"If you can't zoom in, then zoom out," Garnet suggested, "Try to get a larger view of the surroundings."

"Um, alright..." the gem replied. Following more pressing of buttons, she then slid a finger slowly across the display, the image appearing to zoom out along with. Steven and Garnet stared anxiously at the image, then suddenly widened their eyes in surprise.

"Gee wiz..." The green marker was still in center screen, but where it was had changed drastically; a layout massive of jagged, sharpened white crystals, with two singular sticking out the furthest. On the lower underside was a reptilian head, with razor sharp teeth, slitted red-glowing eyes, and a peculiar crown-shaped crystal sprouted on its brow. From the angle, not much more could be seen of the overall body, besides for two clawed arms on the sides, and a massive tail with rows of smaller crystals running its length.

"By all the stars..." the purple gem said, "A creature that size is causing simple visual interference on this end! Just what is that thing?"

"I believe it to be... Malganon," every head in the center of the room turned to Emerald, who bore a morbid look.

"Wait," Ruby Prime shook her head, "Do you mean 'the' Malganon? Of the ancient past?" Emerald nodded.

"Malganon..." Steven said, "Is that really what that thing is?"

"Yeah," Ruby Prime replied, "I remember hearing about this once; our records of myths and legends once spoke of a powerful creature, or even entity, called Malganon. Everywhere it went it would either destroy, or corrupt, sometimes from its presence alone." She pointed again to the creature's form, "And from the looks of it, it's a being that is both organic and mineral." Just looking at the image again caused shudders to run down Steven's spine.

"Garnet? Did you know about this thing?" he asked the crimson gem.

"I'm ashamed to admit it now," Garnet said, "But I never believed such a thing could exist, and I'm almost having a hard time believing now."

"Well then..." Steven turned to everyone else, "How do we stop it? I mean, it had to have been stopped before, right?" His response was the other gems exchanging looks between each other.

"Human... Steven," Emerald said, "I'm afraid we don't rightly know. The records only speak of Malganon; they do not give any insight into how it was defeated, or even if it was at all..."

"I'll tell you exactly what'll do the trick," Ruby Prime pounded one fist into her other palm, "The might of the Crystarra fleet! That thing may have destroyed one ship, but that was a lucky hit on a carrier! Just say the word and we'll blow that thing into oblivion!"

"But wait! Our friends are somehow 'on' that thing!" Steven said, "And the corrupted gems; you can't just destroy them as well, you even said you'd try and heal them!"

"I actually don't think either of those options are available," the purple tech gem spoke up, "Judging from the speed this creature is traveling at, it's moving at a speed too fast for our ships to keep up with in standard flight speed. Yet at the same time we can't simply light-speed jump to it since it's constantly moving."

"Hmmm," Garnet rubbed her chin as she looked at the image, "Then... where is it going now?"

"Going now?"

"If it continues on its present course, what's the first thing it will arrive at?" The gem looked back at the image and tapped away at her console. The image of Malganon changed int a tinier version of it, with the image of a map now appearing. Small dots that seemed to represent planets or other bodies of rock were seen. Malganon's dot slowly inched across the map, until a dotted line appeared before it. The line stretched across the map, until pointed at one light-blue colored planet on the edge. Everyone watched, but it was Citrine who's eyes widened.

"That's... impossible!" she exclaimed, to everyone's surprise.

"What? What is it?" Steven asked.

"Emerald, do you see that?" she pointed, "That right there... It's the candidate I spoke to you about!" The green gem's eyes as she stared at the blue image.

"Are you absolutely certain...?" she asked, to which Citrine nodded.

"Um, hello?" Steven said, "What is it? Is that planet important or something?" Emerald and Citrine shared a quick look between each other.

"There was a point... during your trip down to this planet when it seemed certain you had failed," Emerald said, "We'd lost contact with you for a considerable amount time, visually as well; we naturally assumed the worst. Thus I had to consider... alternative actions."

"Like what...?" Steven asked, uneasiness in his voice.

"Such as the continuation of our species," Citrine answered, "Emerald had me search out a new planet, either bearing resources to create new gems, or basic colonization." She pointed at the planet's image, "This planet is what we've set our sights on."

"Hmph, I'm sure what you mean is to 'ravage' the planet of its life," Garnet crossed her arms, "Just like you tried to do with Earth?"

"Don't act so self-righteous, Garnet," Citrine countered, "You were once a loyal member of Diamond's gems, and you knew how important it all was for our own preservation-"

"Citrine?" Emerald snapped, silencing the two.

"Anyway," the gold gem continued, "This planet was identified after some rather... peculiar readings were shown."

"What sort of readings?" Ruby Prime asked.

"Let's just say the readings were anything but ordinary..." Citrine replied, "We were about to have the entire fleet fly out to this new planet for further exploration, but that was around when we heard from you again."

"Well then... That's where we need to go right now!" Steven said, after a moment of thought.

"What?" Citrine said.

"Come on, we need to rescue our friends from Malganon there, who's going to this planet right now!"

"This is highly irregular," Emerald said, "I mean, Malganon is the most-"

"Emerald, you knew it would come to this," Garnet said, "You wanted to involve us in helping you reclaim your planet, now we're definitely involved, if indirectly, by saving our friends."

"And like I said earlier," Ruby Prime added, "I'll have the entire fleet rallied to take the fight right to that monster!" Emerald finally relented with a sigh.

"Very well," she said, "Citrine, you are given leave to lead a team of your choosing to the candidate planet. However, it might be in your best interest to bring them with you as well..." she pointed to the human boy and Garnet, "Scout the planet and discover what it is that Malganon might have taken an interest in." She then turned to Ruby Prime, "Have the troops mobilized and the ships prepared for immediate departure."

"It will be done!" Ruby Prime crossed her fist over her chest. She as well as Citrine then turned to exit the room, the shorter gem stopping briefly to regard the Earth gems with a nod before leaving.

"As for you two," Emerald said, "Check in with Chrysoprase for your pre-mission healing, then meet Citrine in the hangar."

"Um, about that," Steven said, "I'm definitely new to this planet, so... maybe you have some kind of tourist map...?"

"You have Garnet here; she's all the directions you need," Citrine reminded. At this, Steven looked up at the crimson gem. Garnet opened her mouth as if to say something, but then shook her head. She led Steven to the council room door and out of the room.

"Send word for the ships to be outfitted with those experimental conductor plates," Emerald said to the purple tech gem, "If their survival proves anything, it's that they might be useful after all."

"Yes Emerald," the gem saluted, and left the room as well, only for someone to move past her and enter the room in her place: a Holly Blue Agate.

"Council member Emerald," she announced evenly though with a hint of desperation.

"What-what are you doing here?" Emerald asked, "Has there been any change with-"

"That's exactly why I've come here, Lady Emerald," the Agate said, "Something has happened, and... well, it's best if you see for yourself." Emerald's eyes widened, and she involuntarily pressed the palms of her hands against the council table. This act quickly knocked sense back into her, and she rushed around the table to the other end of the room, exiting it along with the blue gem.


	15. With what we have

Steven and Garnet stood next to each other in the warp stream. Their pre-mission healing, seen to again by Chrysoprase, had gone without any incidents. Now they were directed back to the hangar section, each of them anxious.

"Steven," Garnet said, "I can understand if you're upset right now."

"Upset?" Steven asked, confused, "Why would I be upset...? Oh! You mean with Amethyst, Pearl, and Spodumene..." Garnet nodded in affirmation, "I mean, I am a little upset, that they're not here at least. But, we're gonna get them back, right? It's the whole reason we're doing this!"

"It's just..." Garnet said, "None of this should have happened in the first place, to any of us! If I had known-"

"You couldn't have known!" Steven put his hand against Garnet's, "Neither could I! How could anyone have known that a giant, evil monster from the past would come back today to destroy everything?" The taller gem was silent for a moment, then sighed as she pressed against her visor with a single finger.

"I figured it would be me this whole time, reassuring you that everything would be alright," Garnet surmised. At this point, the light of the warp stream vanished, and the two touched their feet on the ground. Looking around, they found themselves in the familiar setting of inside a hangar. A row of ships were lined up against the wall with different colored gems still doing various repairs to them. Among the gems stood Citrine, who rather than working was looking at a data-pad she held in her hand. The warp's sound got her attention, and she looked up at the two stepping off of the pad.

"Good, you two have finally come," she plainly said, "A ship has already been selected for us; follow me to meet the others."

"Others?" Steven asked as he and Garnet followed. Citrine didn't answer as she led them along the row of ships. Past certain ships, an occasional gem that worked on one would briefly stop and stare at the group passing by. They didn't say anything, or if they did, it was silently between each other, with neither Steven nor Garnet able to understand clearly.

Eventually, the lining of ships being worked on had ended, and the group now found themselves standing before a single ship.

"Here we are, the ship we will be using, and the gems I've selected-" Citrine announced. The ship itself was nearly identical to the other ships they had passed, minus any signs of damage. Unfortunately, what caught Steven and Garnet's foremost attention were the gems that stood their waiting for them- an olive colored gem with triangular shaped hair, and a familiar large, burly orange gem with wild and unruly white hair. The former was doing visual once-overs of the ship when Citrine's voice caused her to turn around, but the latter had already greeted them with crossed arms and a sneer.

"Well well, Earth defects; we meet again," she said. Needless to say, the other two were openly alarmed.

"You!" Steven pointed an accusatory finger at her.

"Jasper..." Garnet bit off the word harshly. Her hands gripped hard into fists on both sides, gauntlets materializing instantly.

"By Geode, seriously...?" Peridot silently commented.

"Oh-ho! You looking for another round?" Jasper taunted, "Of me besting you, that is-?"

"You can all just stop, right now," Citrine commanded, "If this mission is to even succeed, we cannot afford any-"

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" Steven said, "Well you're crazy if you think we're going with her!"

"You think I'd want a trip with you defects any more than you?" Jasper added.

"I said ENOUGH!" Citrine nearly shouted. Her voice surprised Steven and Peridot, but Garnet and Jasper simply turned their heads. Quickly composing herself, she turned to Steven and Garnet, "Now, you two- let's get one thing straight here: this little operation we're doing? It's a reconnaissance based mission, which is my area of expertise. Since you're here with us now, your leader orders you to follow every command to the letter, regardless of who you work with. Is that clear?" Steven and Garnet shared a look between each other, then gave heavy sighs as they relaxed their stances.

"And you," Citrine now turned to Jasper, "Don't think what I just said doesn't apply to you as well. We all work together on this mission, understand?"

"Whatever," Jasper said, "I can afford to wait..." Her last comment was spoken softly, yet Steven and Garnet still gritted their teeth when they heard it.

"Alright, now that we've all become... acquainted," Citrine said, "I'll give a quick recap of what we're doing: I'm leading this team of us five to a distant planet, located in sector 33-Y7 of the galaxy. Preliminary recon picked up something interesting there, which may very well be what Malganon is interested in. It's hopeful that we can find whatever it is before it does, or even before it arrives at the planet."

"And what exactly is it that we're looking for?" Peridot inquired.

"I'm not able to describe in terrible detail," Citrine said, "But whatever this is emits traces of magical energy, nearly equivalent to that which was discovered on Crystarra. Standard operating procedure in this case means we obtain this anomaly, and bring it back to the home-world."

"Assimilate it among your spoils, I think you mean..." Garnet off-handedly commented.

"This again? Don't start acting high and mighty, Garnet," Citrine countered, "Your faction was just as culpable of doing exactly what we've been doing for years, regardless of affiliation."

"Okay then," Steven quickly cut in, "What about Pearl, Amethyst, and Spodumene? If Malganon is going to this planet like we are, how are we going to get to them?" Citrine now looked at the boy.

"Plans involving Malganon itself are out of our jurisdiction," she said, "But... suffice it to say, Ruby Prime has a plan in mind to deal with it."

"But how? If she's going in to save them, we should be involved too, don't you-"

"It sounds like she has plans for a full frontal assault on it!" Jasper said, "And we get front-row seats to the action!"

"Calm down, Jasper," Citrine quickly said, "Now, Peridot, is the ship ready for launch?"

"It is, Citrine," Peridot said, "And in addition, it has also been fitted with Spodumene's experimental conductor plates, in case we end up encountering another lightning storm."

"Excellent," Citrine said, "Then in that case, everyone take a seat inside!" Steven and Garnet moved to walk up the ship's ramp, until Garnet was almost violently shoved by Jasper's arm as she forced her way past her. The orange gem cast an over-the-shoulder smile at them, only earning her more ire from the two.

"Garnet, are you-?" Steven quickly asked, to which she nodded, "She can't get away with that, or anything she did to us!"

"I don't like it any more than you do, Steven," Garnet assured, "But for now, we play along with them; they're our best chance we've got right now to get to our friends."

"Yeah, I know," Steven said, "It's just that 'she's' the last gem I'd want to be going with us..."

"Oh, I agree..." The two grew silent as they again entered a shuttle. By this point, Steven was starting to grow used to boarding these similar types of ships, if for different types of jobs. He took a seat in one of the empty chairs, Garnet taking the last one next to him. He was silently thankful that due to the seat placements, Jasper was now positioned across the cabin and furthest from him.

"System check completed, preparing for launch," Peridot announced. The group felt the familiar lurching of ship movement while watching through the different view-ports. Slowly they passed through the length of the hangar until they emerged through its door. Once clear, the ship picked up speed as it made straight for the sky, "Coordinates are locked... light-speed... now."

The world past the view-port brightly flashed as it changed into a massive stream of stars, illuminating their pathway through the galaxy.

* * *

"How long ago did it happen?" Emerald asked the Agate as they walked.

"Only a few moments ago," the other replied, "I came for you as soon as it happened."

"And about that," the green gem said as they now entered the room, "You've yet to clarify 'what' exactly has happened..."

"Well..." The two gems stopped, now standing before the containment field. Unlike before, someone could now be seen within. It was crouched on its knees, facing away from them, "What happened was that she had taken form again, but she hasn't done anything beyond what you see now."

"And I was here watching the entire time," the other Agate added, "she has not moved from that position." Emerald barely acknowledged what they said, for now she cautiously approached the field. She now stood right before it, as close as she could get without it touching her. Anxious eyes stared at the blue form of Diamond, who could now be seen as trembling visibly.

"D-Diamond?" she called out, "Mistress Diamond...?" The contained gem briefly stopped trembling, and Emerald's eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the blue head whipped around to her, and what Emerald saw visibly alarmed her.

Diamond's widened eyes were looking right at her, but... Her eyes! They were no longer colored solid purple as she had come to associate her with these days! They now returned to their previous form, with black pupils focused straight at her. Seeing her eyes again should have been a wonderful sight to Emerald, but everything else about Diamond was clearly not.

Diamond's front was turned just enough so that her diamond gem could be seen on the front of her body. It retained its blue color, with lingering tints of purple. However, outside of the gem sprouted tiny purple colored veins that nearly ran trails all around her body, including around her eyes. The whole image was enough to make Emerald narrow her eyes, and nearly make her breath hitch.

"Neeeed...!" a tone of despair escaped Diamond's lips, bringing Emerald back to focus.

"Mis-Mistress Diamond?" she said, "It is I, Emerald! Can you hear me?"

"Need... now!" Diamond put a flat palm against the ground as if she were intent to crawl over to Emerald. But her strength appeared to fail her and she sunk to one elbow and ducked her head in shame.

"Mistress Diamond..." the Agate said, "I've never seen her... in such a state."

"Summon for Chrysoprase, now!" Emerald said without even looking at her. The blue Agate saluted and quickly left.

"Mistress Diamond," she called out again, "Can-you-hear-me?"

"Hear...?" Diamond's head shook as she slowly raised it, "Hear something... green... Emerald?"

"Yes, yes it's me! Over here!" Emerald had to restrain herself from waving too frantically. Very slowly, Diamond raised herself to her feet and took cautious steps closer to Emerald.

"You... you're Emerald..." she said, "Where-?"

"A containment field," Emerald explained, "I'm sorry, but we couldn't risk-"

"Where? Not here..." Diamond's gaze drifted aimlessly around the field, "Need it, I need it...!"

"What?" Emerald said, confusion creeping over her face, "Mistress Diamond... you keep saying that- what is 'it' that you need?"

"Need..." Diamond's eyes looked up, showing complete desperation, "MASTER!" Suddenly, she threw her body into the field, only to be rewarded with its harsh zapping, her form visibly distorting for an instant before being thrown back to the center. Emerald found herself recoiling from the sudden action and the loud noise the zapping made.

'Master?' she thought, 'What could this master... wait, she couldn't mean...'

"Diamond?" she slowly spoke, "Do you need... Malganon?" Diamond's head slowly turned to face Emerald.

"The Master... needs no name..." she said, to which Emerald narrowed her eyes with a light groan.

"This is going nowhere..." she said to herself, "Diamond, you need to-"

"The Master provides," Diamond continued to rave, "Gives strength, power... sustains me... none can escape... embrace..."

* * *

Spodumene watched anxiously through her pod's view-port at her surroundings. All that could be seen in any direction were massive stark white crystals. Small ones grew jagged and in irregular angles, while the much taller and thicker ones grew straight up and towered over her. From how many there were, it was a wonder how she could've even been able to land.

Still, even before she somehow found a suitable spot to land, she watched carefully as Pearl's pod before her had left a smoke trail and where it landed. That bolt of lightning had struck from the object itself and nearly destroyed it! At least not right then and there, but the fusion held hope that Pearl herself was unharmed.

"So all I have to do is find Pearl and Amethyst, retrace my steps back to my pod, and get us off this thing," she said to herself as the pod touched down. The clear glass opened from the back, and Spodumene climbed out. Her feet touched the ground, and she was surprised by what she felt.

"The ground... it's soft?" She shook her head, berating herself for the distraction, "Focus! Now where was... that way, I think..." She slowly made her way in a direction, until the 'forest' of white crystals became too thick to maneuver through.

"I can't... quite squeeze..." she said, trying to angle her body, "How can I...?" Stopping for a moment, her bottom right hand gave a flick of its fingers against one of the smaller growths, "It's not that strong? Maybe I can..." She brought a left hand over the gem on her right's arm, and grabbed the materialized energy ring. With a controlled swing she swung her arm against it, then smiled in surprise when the ring easily broke through.

"Excellent! I'll be able to get through to Pearl..." she looked back at the pod she'd landed in, "and at the same have a trail to get back to my ship!" She quickly summoned three more rings for her remaining hands and proceeded to carve her way through, "I'll be there for you, Pearl, don't you worry!"


	16. Welcome to the crystal jungle

"Ugh... what..." Vision slowly came back to her in brief flashes. Pearl put a hand to her head as she shook it to regain her senses. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was being in a Crystarra pod, flying towards something white and dark purple, her whole world suddenly going bright red with fire and smoke-

"Huh?!" she snapped to attention. Her eyes darted around with perfect clarity. She was still sitting in a cockpit, its console broken, mangled, wires exposed, and smoking from small flames. The clear viewing port was broken and cracked in places. It was a wonder this thing still held its overall shape.

"Am... am I still alive?" Pearl patted herself in disbelief, "I am? I... I've got to get out of here! Right, how do I...?" She raised her hands to the clear dome above her and pounded, only for nothing to happen. She tried again with a little more strength. This time the dome budged ever so slightly. Gritting her teeth, Pearl cocked her fist back and mustered all of her possible strength into a single punch. The clear dome broke open instantly this time, making a groaning noise at it strained against the hinge in the back. Now free, Pearl leaped from the cockpit, rolled to the ground, and landed on one knee.

"Whew! That was a very close call..." she said as she rose to her feet, "But... where am I now?" She looked all around; aside from the smoking wreckage of the pod, everything in her immediate sight was a large, stark-white crystal jutting out of the ground, "Where... what is this place?" Slowly she approached one of the large crystals and tapped it with her knuckles. It felt hard and solid, unmoving.

"How did these crystals come to be...?" she wondered aloud as she looked to the ground where it sprouted. The ground itself appeared hard, yet something about it seemed... unnatural, for lack of better word, "Does Malganon just assimilate crystals from Crystarra into itself?" Her eyes widened as she suddenly thought, "If it does, what could that mean for Amethyst?! I've got to find her, right-" A noise behind her drew her attention, and she quickly spun around. She saw nothing at first, and there wasn't any movement either.

"H-Hello?" she called out, though not too loudly, "Is someone there?" Her eyes darted all around now, paranoia starting to grip her. Was she just hearing things?

A sharper noise ripped through the air this time, and Pearl found herself throwing herself back instinctively. While she mentally criticized herself for the lack of her usual grace, she was still happy that she managed to avoid that... energy blast? She quickly looked over to where the projectile had come from. Sure enough, stepping out from around some crystal growths was another gem, rich green in color, its hand holding sizzling energy. Pearl looked closer: one of the gem's eyes was in fact a gem, while the other one was an eye of dark purple with veins branching from it.

"Another of these 'gem drones?" Pearl said as she raised a hand to her forehead to summon her spear, "I'm warning you: stay away from me!" The gem drone obviously did not heed the warning, and continued to slowly stalk over to Pearl.

'Very well, I gave a fair warning, time to- huh!?' Pearl had raised her spear arm with the intent to do a javelin throw, but was surprised when she couldn't move it. Looking at her arm, it was caught, by a purple colored hand! She pulled hard, but the hand's grip was far too strong. She looked over her shoulder to find that another gem had snuck up behind her.

"Let go of me!" she cried out. The purple gem's simple response was to grab the other hand in a vice grip as well. Fully unable to move, Pearl's fearful eyes looked back in front of her; sure enough, the green gem was now standing before her with its handful of energy poised to strike. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable...

Until she heard and felt a rush around her. Her eyes snapped open and found that the green gem was violently thrown backward and smacked into one of the crystals. Before confusion could register, she felt the vice grips around her wrists suddenly loosen. She pulled her hands away quickly, then watched as something appeared over her head and landed before her.

"Spodumene?!" she cried out. The fusion born suddenly lurched her upper body forward, and Pearl could see that her hands were holding the body of the purple gem that had held her. With a mighty grunt, Spodumene hurled it right over her head and sent it crashing into another of the cyrstals right next to the green gem. After huffing from the exertion, Spodumene then looked back at Pearl.

"Pearl! Are you all right?!" she said.

"Spodumene?" Pearl blinked, "By Geode, what are- how did you-?!"

"Wait, hold a moment..." Spodumene looked back to their foes. The green and purple gems who were once crumpled against crystal stalks were rising to their feet again. The yellow gem brought all her clenched fists to her chest for a second, then shot flat, open palms at the drones. Thick waves of air, nearly four times as strong as the first time, raced forward. They crashed into the enemies, not only forcing them off their feet, but throwing them backward with enough force to break through the crystals. The result ended with crystals that once towered above them now falling down and burying them within. Spodumene and Pearl both watched and winced as they saw more than one of these crystals fall with the sharp tip pointing down. Pearl found herself taking a few steps back, despite that she was far enough away already.

Finally, the tumbling of the crystals had ceased all together. No more movement could be seen at all from the messy pile, which was good enough for them.

"Finally..." Pearl said, "Spodumene? You're here too?"

"I wasn't about to leave you, Pearl," Spodumene said, "But now that we have a moment: Pearl, what were you thinking?!"

"What?" Pearl was surprised by the sudden change in tone.

"Why did you do that?" the fusion clarified, "We were planning to put a concise plan together back on Crystarra, and then you go and pull a stunt like that!"

"What? For actually taking action?" Pearl countered, "I don't have to apologize for wanting to save my friend!"

"I'm not talking about that," Spodumene said, "I'm saying that a little patience was needed, when we could-"

"Patience? Seriously?" Pearl interrupted, "We aren't your Crystarra Council, Spodumene; we don't have the luxury of sitting around and 'talking' about a plan to save one of our own! I promised Amethyst I would rescue her from here, I saw my chance, and I took it..." Spodumene held up her hand, clenched it, and lowered it to her side as she lowered her head as well.

"At what cost?" she asked.

"No cost is too great to save my friend!" Pearl said, "Besides, you helped build those Crystarra spaceships, didn't you? You can just build more-"

"That's not what I mean," Spodumene interrupted this time, "I mean 'who' are you willing to put at risk for this?"

"What?" Pearl asked with a confused face, "What are you talking about?"

"Back on Crystarra, when you stole that ship," Spodumene explained, "You had committed a high offense with your theft, and an order was about to be put out that you be shot down right out of the sky!" Pearl's widened a little, but she refrained from speaking. She just watched as Spodumene walked away with her back to her, "But you weren't shot down, why? Because I covered for you, saying you were an initial phase of an attack. I went up there as well, as did a carrier ship of other gems who were under that impression. Do you know what happened to them?" She turned her head around, looking straight at Pearl, "Destroyed! Wiped out, as you might have been as well!" She looked away at the ground, sighing heavily with a sad face.

"I'm... I'm sorry that happened, Spodumene," Pearl tried to say, "But I'm... I'm not allied with them anymore... Garnet, Amethyst, myself, and Steven, we are the Crystal gems of Earth! As such, the lives of my teammates, my friends, have to take priority..." Spodumene looked back up at her with a mixed look of both incredulity and sympathy.

"I get what you're saying, I really do," she said, "But the way I see it, you act like you're the only one affected by this. All of this." Spodumene walked closer to Pearl and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "Malganon's return has put all of us in a bad way, not just you and your Earth friends, everyone! I may not know the first thing how to stop it but, for now... I'll at least help you find Amethyst... If you will only let me?" They both stared at each other for a moment's pause, and Pearl gave the tiniest sliver of a smile at the corner of her lips, followed by a nod.

"Excellent," Spodumene said with a relieved tone of voice, "You should follow me then; I'll lead you back down the trail I blazed to my ship. Hopefully we can get a better sense of where we stand soon..." With a nod, Pearl followed after her until the two were walking side by side.

The trail, or if one could even call it that, was clearly an exaggeration in describing how Spodumene could make her way to Pearl. Massive growths of stark white crystals grew all around, but through a straight path, some were broken through and now piled on the ground unceremoniously. It made for a stark contrast in comparison to its surroundings. Watching her closely, Pearl carefully stepped where her fusion-born partner stepped, with the exact grace and speed as well.

They moved for what felt like to Pearl an hour, but in reality was only about ten minutes. The two of them emerged from the thickness of the 'forest' into a small clearing. There rested a single Crystarra ship, which, unlike Pearl's, was in much better condition from a safer and more effective landing.

"Good, the ship's still here and undamaged," Spodumene spoke, "Now let me see here..."

"Spodumene..." Pearl started, then calmed herself; perhaps the both of them had vented enough of their feelings for now, "This place... I mean, are we ON Malganon right now?"

"So it would seem," Spodumene said from inside the cockpit she was ducked inside of.

"But, how can that be? Maybe I'm having such difficulty coming to grips with it. The most powerfully dangerous thing of our ancient past, and we're just walking on its back?! W-what if it's corrupting us right now, or even-?"

"Here! Now..." Spodumene's upper half emerged from the pod, holding something in hand. She placed it on her upper right arm, at her limb enhancer's very end.

"What are you doing?" Pearl asked.

"I'm going to try something," the fusion said, "I'll take the pod's landmass scanner and apply it to my own limb enhancer. I'm hoping that this will-" With the sound of a click, she then pressed a couple buttons on her device. Slowly, a transparent, holographic image began to take shape. They were met with the familiar spiky image of Malganon, the head and arms of its 'upper body' bent forward as if it were flying.

"I'd say... that answers your question, Pearl," Spodumene said softly, "Now let me just zoom in..." The image grew bigger as it zoomed in, Malganon's shape fading as it reached the edges of the display, "Alright, there we are, see?" Two tiny green dots could be seen now, little specks against a massive frame.

"Okay, now where is Amethyst?" Pearl asked anxiously.

"I... don't know," Spodumene said, confused as she slowly zoomed the image in and out, "Everything else you see is marked as purple, signifying corrupted gems; it's hard to..." She trailed off as she looked back up at Pearl. It was then that the two of them seemed to be thinking the same thought, as shown by their smirks of realization. Spodumene readjusted her display once more, and the purple specks flickered away, leaving the display field much more transparent. She slowly widened the image, then stopped when something new could be seen: another green dot.

"That's... that's her, isn't it...?" Pearl breathed, "It's gotta be!"

"Well hold on, now," Spodumene said, "Let's not be too-"

"Who else could it be? Pearl insisted, "Now, where is it? Where is she?"

"Well, if I hold my display here..." Spodumene slowly pivoted herself and stopped when she looked up in another direction, "That way."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Pearl said, "Let's get in your pod and fly over to her!"

"Pearl calm down," Spodumene said a little more forcefully this time, "For one thing, that pod's space was cramped, even for me; there's no way we could both fit in there at the same time. Secondly..." she pointed one of her fingers up at the sky, or rather the literal space that was zooming by, "We appear to be travelling at light-speed, yet somehow gravity is keeping us anchored. I for one don't want to risk anything by trying to fly around..."

"So, you're saying we can't fly to her..." Pearl said, "Then we'll just make our way to her on foot!"

"I was about to suggest something like that myself," Spodumene agreed, "But I just wanted us to be clear of our options."

"Alright, there's no time to waste," Pearl said, "Let's go." With Spodumene and her holographic map leading the way, the two made their way onward in the direction she led.

* * *

Elsewhere, a small, seemingly unnoticed purple gem glowed as it rose itself off the ground. Bright lavender light began to surround it as it took shape, that of a humanoid. Within moments, Amethyst stood back on her feet again, this time the color of her top was black.

"Whew! Finally, I'm..." she looked all around, "Where the heck am I?" Tall white crystals, everywhere she looked, while the sky itself was a constantly-rushing stream of white light. Amethyst involuntarily shuddered as she felt a sudden sense of claustrophobia, or was it pain?

"Grrgh!" she visibly winced at pain that came from her midsection. Her scratch, dent, whatever it was from that Dark Plasma hammer had flared up like crazy! Her entire belly felt like it was engulfed in dull pain, like a scorching hot poker throbbing from within!. Still clutching it, she forced her head up to look around.

"What is this place?" she said to herself, "Okay Amethyst, think; what's the last thing you remember...?" She thought back- the Crystal Gems going to the moon, meeting Spodumene and going to Crystarra, or rather the fleet above the planet because of that lightning, going down to the planet, crash-landing on the planet, running for their lives to a massive crystal castle, and... the Diamonds! That's right! They had fought the Diamonds and... beat them? So, then what happened?

"Oh yeah," she looked down at her belly, "That scratch started flaring up like crazy, and then..." Her eyes suddenly widened in faint horror; she couldn't remember much of anything that happened after that! What happened to her? Was she shattered, and was this a sort of 'here-after' that gems went to?

"Oh no... no, no I can't be dead!" she suddenly dropped to her knees, "I can't be, I... I gotta get out of here!" She picked herself up and frantically looked all around. Her surroundings may be exactly the same, but she'd have to get through somehow. There had to be something that could-

A sudden sound filled her ears, and Amethyst snapped to attention. Instinct took over and she dove for cover behind some of the low-growing crystals. Feeling a little safer, she calmly listened to what that sound was: footsteps? She looked out... Someone else was there! A number of gems of different colors, walking in a direction away from her.

Amethyst felt the need to call out them, then bit her tongue when she caught a glimpse at one of their faces. Dark purple eyes, unfeeling, and lifeless, just like those drones that attacked them on the planet. They didn't see her, or at least she thought they didn't see her, as they kept walking as a group. Once they were out of sight, Amethyst let out a breath that she didn't even know she'd been holding.

"Those corrupted gems from Crystarra? They're here too?" she said to herself, "C'mon Amethyst, keep it together..." she took a couple of deep breaths to compose herself, "Okay, what to do now?" She stood back to her feet and looked at her surroundings more thoroughly, "There's gotta be something around here that can get me outta here... but what if there's not? No! Don't say that, there will be! I just have to find it..." She had put her hand to her gem and summoned her whip in her paranoid state. Finally, she took a tentative step followed by many more in a direction; this was going to be a long trip...


	17. Invaders to another world

"Log date: 525; This is Peridot reporting from Citrine's expedition team. We have departed from Crystarra five minutes ago, and our ETA to the target planet will be roughly ten minutes..." Peridot spoke to herself quietly, yet enough so that everyone could hear her voice.

Steven and Garnet sat at their chairs in relatively uncomfortable silence. The tension in the ship's room was practically palpable. They had been put in the same room with Jasper of all gems! Jasper! The gem that had worked them over the last time they'd met!

Whenever Steven would glance over at the massive orange gem, occasionally he would be met with that same sneer of hers. It was very unsettling, it all was! He just had to take his mind off of this... somehow. Looking away, he was reminded of the presence of the other gem, Peridot.

"... consisting of myself, Peridot, along with Expedition Leader Citrine, and a Jasper, and a veteran Garnet of Rose Quartz' faction-"

"And me, Steven Universe- Crystal Gem who's also a human!" the boy quickly cut in, earning him a questioning look from the olive gem.

"Y-Yes, erm, and an Earth native who accompanied her..." she stared at him for a moment longer, "Further updates as they occur, Peridot signing off." With that, the display that was before her dispelled, with the four hovering cylinders returning to the end of her arm as its 'fingers'. She returned both of her robotic-enhanced arms back to the forward controls of the ship.

"So what is that you do, leaving voice diaries?" Steven asked.

"'Voice diaries?'" Peridot said, "Hardly. If you must know, human, someone must formally keep regular mission updates for archival purposes, even if some no longer do..." Steven continued to study this strange green gem.

"Are you like a cyborg, or a robot, or..." he asked seemingly out of the blue.

"A robot?" Peridot turned her head this time so a single eye could look over at the boy, "Really, as if a pristine gem such as myself would be subjected to Envesselment..." She raised her left arm, its fingers twitching slightly, "My limb enhancers are state-of-the-art, perfect for any situation."

"Hmph," Jasper snorted from the back, "That human sure is a nosy one... Why is he even here, Garnet?" The crimson gem regarded the other one coldly.

"I could ask the same of you, Jasper," she said, "Do 'common door guards' usually get called along on missions like this?"

"Why you..." the orange gem grumbled, "I'm glad Citrine picked me, guard duty is absolutely boring! All because former General Jet didn't like how I like to 'hurry things along'..."

"That level of insubordination won't be doing you any favors, Jasper," Citrine said while still facing forward, "I needed a strong warrior gem for this mission, and you were the only one on hand..."

"Heh, with my skill I should've been the obvious choice," Jasper said, "Was it not my skill that captured these rebel gems before?" Her last statement earned her pursed lips from Garnet, and a sharp gasp from Steven.

"In addition to an inflated ego..." Peridot remarked just low enough for the orange gem to not pick up on.

"Hmmm?" Jasper could've sworn she heard that Peridot say something.

"Regardless, your obedience to my orders on this mission will be all that matters," Citrine gave a quick pinch to the bridge of her nose, "Peridot, what was the ETA to the destination?"

"It is now... five minutes, Citrine," Peridot replied.

"Indeed?" Citrine slumped a bit in her chair, "We could not get there soon enough..."

"Um, Citrine?" Steven carefully spoke up, "I don't know if now is the best time to say this, but... I hope there were no hard feelings about, you know the last time we..." The gold gem actually looked over at him, as if regarding him and his words.

"Hmph, well, I'm... professional enough to not be hung up on old grudges..." Citrine replied, to which Steven was grateful she chose not to elaborate.

"Good, that's good, just wanted to clear things up..." Steven said, "So you're a council-member, but what exactly is it you do again?"

"I oversee our people's galactic explorations," the yellow gem said, "A tall order to be sure; admittedly under Mistress Diamond, the entire process seemed... disorganized."

"So then..." Steven slowly realized, "Those ships that came to Earth a while back, were you leading them?"

"No, I was not," Citrine quickly said, "At the time, I was part of Zircon's group, and we were all selected to take part in the mission. Former General Jet led the invasion."

"Phah! 'Led the invasion' she says..." Jasper openly grumbled, "What made her so special anyway, if she was so keen on simply 'waiting and seeing what happens'?"

"You're hardly one to talk," Garnet spoke up, "Jet and I may have been enemies for a long time, but even I know she was a better gem than you'll ever be!"

"Really?" Jasper folded her arms and gave her signature sneer, "The way I see it, the 'better gem' is still here to this day! What did happen to her during our visit to your planet, huh?"

"She-" Garnet started, but suddenly caught herself; If Jasper hadn't known now what happened, perhaps it's best it stay that way, "... At least did the right thing 'til the end."

"Words," Jasper said, "That's all you Earth gems ever have..."

"Okay, come on!" Steven suddenly protested, "Do you seriously have to keep being like this to us?! We're not enemies, and we're definitely not trying to be yours! Just this once, can't we all try to be friends here?"

"What reason would I possibly have to be your friend?" Jasper countered.

"Excuse me," Peridot spoke up before Steven could say anything, "If I may interrupt your 'riveting' conversation, we have arrived at our destination."

"Finally..." Citrine mumbled. After a few seconds, the rush of stars through the view-port slowed instantly into the white dots against the black, as well as a planet before them. The entire body was a rich shade of teal, which grew paler in tone at each north and south pole.

"It's so... beautiful," Steven said, awestruck, "It kinda reminds me of Earth in a way."

"Peridot, conduct a scan of not only the planet, but the space around it," Citrine ordered, "We need to know if Malganon is here, or if it's even been here yet."

"Understood..." Peridot said, then diligently performed her task.

"What all do you know about this planet?" Garnet curiously asked.

"What we do know, is that this particular planetoid is not like the neighboring ones in this sector of the galaxy," Citrine said, "For one thing, none of them in this sector should be possessing any form of life, much less be habitable."

"Why's that?" Steven asked.

"Our archives say that a nearby star had went supernova millions of years ago," Peridot spoke up, "and by all accounts, its shock-wave should've obliterated every ozone of every atmosphere." Steven was about to speak, but was caught off-guard by something the green gem had said.

"Garnet, what's 'supernova'?" he asked.

"It's what happens when a star reaches the end of its life," Garnet said, "They explode, and become the white dots in the night sky."

"So a star blows up, and blows up everything it touches?"

"Well... yes," Garnet said, "I know what you're thinking; don't worry, our sun still has a very long life ahead of it."

"Oh, that's okay," Steven said, "I mean, at least it'll become a new white dot in the night sky, right?"

"Imprecise, but correct," Peridot said, "Scan complete."

"And? What of Malganon?" Citrine asked.

"That is... negative," Peridot answered, earning light sighs from almost everyone else, "The scans are not reading any traces of dark plasma in orbit. Malganon is not here, or perhaps has not been here yet."

"Good, this might go smoothly after all..."

"However, I think I found... something else..." Peridot continued, "But that's the strangest thing; there's an anomaly that's giving off an algorithmic sense coming from the surface. If I hadn't focused hard enough, I might have missed it the first time."

"Anomaly?" Citrine asked, "Could it be the same thing that Malganon is after?"

"I am unsure," Peridot said, "Though this definitely piques my interest..."

"So how do we plan to go about this?" Garnet asked.

"What we would've done was send a preliminary transport of drones to the surface for initial in-depth scouting," Citrine said, "But as that is no longer an option... we'll have to go down ourselves."

"Citrine?" Peridot said.

"Finally! Probably the first sensible thing that's been said so far!" Jasper declared.

"Ahem," Citrine cast a quick glare over her shoulder to Jasper's general direction, "Find us a suitable place, Peridot, and take us in for landing."

"Y-yes Citrine," Peridot said, "But with all due respect, I am simply an engineering tech gem, I have no prowess nor desire for exploration..."

"I understand," the yellow gem said, "For now just do as your told." Peridot returned to facing the screen before her and began the descent. Everyone else watched the forward view-port the the planet grew larger and larger.

"Huh," Steven said aloud, "The last time we tried to go down to a planet, we nearly crashed. This time is going a lot better!"

"It does seem... uncanny," Garnet added, "Turbulence doesn't even feel that strong..." By now they had passed through the thick of the clouds, and a much clearer view of the planet's landscape could be seen. Despite their obvious distance, they could see quite clearly a very alien flora. Growths of blue mushrooms in many sizes nearly dominated the landscape. There were sturdy trees with blue-tinted bark that grew in nearly every direction besides just straight up. For once, nearly all the passengers' eyes were widened in awe.

"So much... blue..." Jasper said, "I... don't like that."

"What? How couldn't you-?" Steven involuntarily looked over at Jasper. It was then he noticed that her face was not one of her usual disdain, but of actual physical cringe, "Hey, are you alright?"

"Peridot, would it be preferable to land atop one of these floras?" Citrine asked.

"Inadvisable, Citrine," the olive gem replied simply, "It would be safer to find a more stable landing area at ground level."

"Very well," Citrine replied, then looked behind her, "Is everything alright? Jasper?"

"I'm fine!" the orange gem quickly spoke, "Yeah, that's it, I'm fine..."

"Landing zone identified, beginning to touch down..." Waves of the towering mushrooms rushed up through the view-port as the ship descended. Eventually it slowed down, showing a much more vast and spacial forest beneath, and the ship finally gently stopped altogether. Peridot raised one of her limb enhanced arms, its fingers reshaping into a holographic octagonal pad, and spoke again,

"Log date: 526; This is Peridot of Citrine's expedition team. Target planet had been identified, discovered, and touched down upon, all successfully..."

"Alright everyone, let's get moving," Citrine announced as she rose from her seat, "Except for you, Peridot. I will allow you to stay with the ship and ensure that it remains operational."

"... And my most recent order is to remain on ship to maintain functionality," Peridot continued, "It is currently unknown as to what effect the planet's plant-life could have on the shuttle..."

"Alright, if we're really doing this, then let's do it," Garnet said. The three gems made their way to the rear end of the ship's interior where the door would open, Steven quickly moving to join them. The door slowly opened downward...

"I betcha it'll be just as beautiful on the ground as it was out-" Nearly the instant the door opened, and the group of four had stepped out, Steven's eyes widened immediately, "It is!" The mushrooms and trees they had initially seen were definitely much larger in person, while the ground itself was dominated by much smaller plants. Steven crouched down and poked a finger at a single one, and to his surprise, it seemed to twitch from the contact, "Hey there, little plant, I come to you in peace!"

"Peridot, do you read me?" Citrine spoke while stepping a few steps away from the other three, "Is there any interference through communication?"

 _"That is a negative, Citrine,"_ Peridot spoke, _"Communications are clear; I can hear you and all others around you."_

"Good, we'll begin our search," Citrine said, "Try and identify this anomaly's coordinates and relay them to me."

"Go ahead, you two!" Steven gestured to Garnet and Jasper to do as he'd done. Both were hesitant while they took in their surroundings, but Jasper was the first to move. A much larger plant was sprouted before her, and she studied it almost intently. Her finger prodded against it, and it twitched and trembled, just as Steven's had done to him.

"Grgh!" Jasper turned away with a mix of cringe and dismissive, "Can we just get moving or something? I'm already tired of all this... blue..."

"This plant-life is so very..." Garnet said, but trailed off when she looked back at the boy, "Steven? Are you alright?"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Your face, it's starting to turn red," Garnet pointed out as she rejoined his side. In response, Steven put a hand to his cheek.

"Whoa, why do I feel warmer?" he said, "And why does the air feel so... thin?"

"Thin air?" Garnet said, then gasped, "Steven! The air here is not like on Earth! Quickly, turn on that device Spodumene gave you!"

"Huh?" Steven looked down to where Garnet pointed at his neck, "Oh yeah!" A finger shot to the button over his Adam's apple, and the thin, transparent spherical field instantly formed around his head. He took a couple deep breaths, and the redness from his face cleared.

"There, feeling better?" Garnet asked as she patted his shoulder.

"Oh yeah, much," Steven said, 'Spaceman Steven here, ready to go where no Steven has gone before!"

"And... Anomaly coordinates received," Citrine said, "Keep this channel open, Peridot, in the event of new developments."

 _"Understood,"_ Peridot replied. Citrine then turned to the other three standing with her.

"Alright, everyone," she announced, "There is no time at all for any sight-seeing. Peridot has identified the anomaly's signature many miles... in that direction," She pointed down a pathway where the thick of mushroom stalks were actually not that thick.

"Well let's go then, seriously I think all this blue is hurting my eyes..." Jasper belly-ached as they started on their way. At first the trek was a relatively silent one as the group made their way through the thick of the forest floor. Despite what Citrine said earlier, Steven still could not resist the urge for sight-seeing. This strange new world looked like something he had read out of a fantasy book!

"Seriously? Is that the reason for your complaints?" Garnet asked, "You don't like the color blue?"

"S-Shut it, you!" Jasper grumbled as she walked, "I just... don't like so much blue..."

"Come on, it's not so bad, is it?" Steven said, looking around, "Look over there! Those trees there look kinda brownish..." Everyone except for Citrine looked off to the side at the aforementioned trees; they stretched both tall and rather wide, though at rather slanted angles, with indeed a brownish-reddish tint to their trunks.

"I wonder how those trees even get to be so slanted...?" Garnet asked aloud.

"And look over there!" Steven continued as they were now in view of a larger clearing, "There's some water that's looks clear!" He looked back at Jasper to find no sneer this time, "See? This world is pretty to look at, isn't it?" The orange gem didn't reply, but rather sealed her eyes, pinched the space just above her nose gem, and shook her head all at once.

"There's much more open space now," Citrine looked around, "The anomaly shouldn't be that hard to miss..."

 _"Come in, expedition team,"_ Peridot's voice reached their ears.

"Go ahead," Citrine said simply.

 _"New discoveries regarding the location of the anomaly,"_ Peridot said, _"The readings are picking it up at a higher altitude of at least a hundred feet off the ground..."_ At that last part, everyone almost simultaneously drew their gazes up to the slanted treetops. What they saw was not a clear view of the sky above, but some round shapes of dried clay and mud fashioned into and around the trees themselves. With holes carved into the sides of many of them, what they appeared to be was pretty clear...

"I think somebody lives on this world..." Steven said.

 _"-motion."_ Citrine blinked and was reminded that Peridot was still talking.

"Repeat, what was that last part, Peridot?" she asked.

 _"I said, the anomaly is in motion!"_ Her gaze shot straight back up, and watched as something fell straight down over them.


	18. We come in peace?

"Steven move!"

"Whoa, look out!" the boy exclaimed as he and Garnet dove out of the way. Citrine also jumped away, with Jasper being not fast enough. The others looked behind them to look clearly at what had nearly fallen on them: Jasper was now caught underneath some sort of net!

"Argh, hey! Get this thing off me!" she shouted. She thrashed around in vain to dislodge herself.

"Jasper? Hold still!" Citrine said. She, Steven and Garnet moved closer to the bound gem. Now up close, the three could see clearly the net was made of tightly interwoven vines, "You two, hold that thing down, I'll try to cut her out!"

"I don't need help! I can get- whoa!" Jasper thrashed harder, only to end up tumbling to her side and further entangling her arms. Garnet moved to one end of the makeshift net, albeit deliberately, and gripped it hard with her fingers.

"Steven, grab the other end and pull tight," she said.

"Right!" the boy quickly wrapped his fingers around the edges of the net as best he could and tugged, "Hey, hang on in there, we can get you out!"

"Now then..." In a flash Citrine summoned her set of sais in each hand. She poked both into the same spot just below Jasper's thrashing form, and in a flash, separated both away from each other to slice a large hole in the net.

"There you go, now just-" In between the thrashing, Jasper already found her means of escape. She stepped out from the primitive prison, panting.

"The... absolute... nerve!" The orange gem stomped a foot down on the net, "Who dares trap me under some... net?!"

"Everyone stay alert!" Citrine sternly said, "Whoever did this might still be nearby..."

"Was it someone up in... the..." Steven slowly trailed off as he noticed what was directly above them, "Um... guys?" The other three looked up at what he saw, each one with a different face.

"What in the world?" Garnet asked.

There, crawling down the stalks of the trees, were clearly humanoid, but absolutely otherworldly. Parts of their bodies were marked with a blue, fluorescent paint that contrasted from their natural grey skin tone. Their legs had tiny clawed hooves, while the ends of their arms had three clawed fingers. As for the heads, all that could be seen on their tops were strange head-tentacles that looked more plantlike than organic.

"Wha-what are these things?" Steven asked.

"Stay with me, Steven," Garnet said, pulling him next to her leg. By now the creatures had descended completely down the trees and on to the ground. Now in clearer view, the group counted at least a dozen of them.

"This is..." Citrine said, "Peridot, do you read? We've encountered strange sentient lifeforms, possibly native to this planet!"

 _"Yes I know! They are here too!"_ Citrine's eyes blinked.

"What? What's going on?"

 _"These... creatures must have seen the ship land!"_ In between Peridot's voice, a banging noise could be heard in the background, _"They keep banging on the exterior; it's not doing any significant damage, but it is rather annoying..."_

"Keep that ship secure in case we need to leave, and that goes for you too!" Citrine said, "Alright, if we stay in a group, we'll have a better chance with-"

"I'll have your heads!" Citrine, Garnet, and Steven watched as a orange blur that was Jasper rushed away from them. She rushed the first creature close to her, gripped it in her vice-arm grip, and charged into others unlucky to not move out of the way fast enough. The creatures that remained close turned their faceless heads back to the remaining three. No faces were visible, but their new stances suggested anything but friendly.

"I swear that gem..." Citrine didn't even try to voice quietly, "Alright, I'll assume I can trust you two to listen to me?"

"Don't you worry about us..." Garnet said.

"Um, hey there, ah... I don't know what to call you guys," Steven said, even as the creatures neared closer to them, "But listen, we don't want any trouble, honest!" One of the creatures twitched its head back and forth and made a strange clicking noise, its comrades doing the same. Then a couple other ones stepped forward, arms showing that they held lengthy slings with thick rocks tied to the end. Garnet and even Citrine immediately tensed at this, even when they moved in to strike. Garnet pulled an arm back to counter, as did Citrine.

"No, no please!" Steven cried out with closed eyes and widened arms. In a flash, the world around the other two gems turned pink. The two creatures that had swung their rock-slings clanged harmlessly off the outside. They and the other creatures actually recoiled both from this, and from the unexpected noise that the rock-slings had made.

Inside, Garnet and Citrine had to catch their own arms from striking the shields.

"Rose Quartz's encompassing shield," Citrine looked around, before looking down at the boy, "Of course, you're that human that has her gem and powers..."

"Look guys," the boy said, "There's no need to just fight them! Let's show them we don't mean any harm and they might ease up!"

"Steven might be right," Garnet said to Citrine as she lowered her arms. The gold gem looked at them for a moment, then lowered her arms as well.

"Okay, you guys?" Steven called out, "We don't want to fight you! I'll lower my shield if you promise not to hurt us. Deal?" A series of guttural clicking from them, but they still lowered their arms nonetheless. Seeing this, Steven slowly lowered his arms, the shield slowly dissipating along with, "Alright, if you can understand me, we just-" A thud drew everyone's attention, and looking down before them were a pair of the creatures. They had been thrown, the impact appeared to have injured parts of their bodies. The three of them looked over at Jasper with mixed faces of surprise and horror.

"Jasper! Stop that aggressive action!" Citrine nearly screamed. Before them, the other creatures were returning to their previously aggressive stances.

"Not a chance!" the orange gem called out, "These things started this, now I plan to finish it!"

"Steven-!" Garnet held out her hand which Steven quickly took. She pulled him along quickly as she jumped away from more swinging rock-slings.

"Thanks Garnet," Steven said, summoning his shield on one arm, "But we still shouldn't hurt them, right?"

"Just know that I won't let any harm come to you," Garnet said as she stood protectively between Steven and the creatures, "no matter what happens."

"Thanks to Jasper, I don't think they'll give us much of a choice!" Citrine added. In the midst of the creatures attacking her, she found that she was avoiding their attacks more than she was pressing her own. One of these things tried to overhead swipe at her with its rock-sling, and quick slices from her two sais severed the thick vine holding it together.

"Arrgh!" Jasper on the other hand was hard pressed. She pried off two of these native creatures that had taken to crawling over her body, but now more were taking to doing that at the same time. Her frustration only grew with each one she freed herself from.

Just then, another grunt was heard, forcing Garnet, Citrine, and Steven to spin their heads. It was more of a growling noise, but that had not come from Jasper. A set of thick mushroom foliage near Jasper rustled briefly, then instantly parted as something burst from them.

"RRRAAAAAAA!" A thick, burly figure soared through the air towards Jasper's location. This time, Jasper could see it coming. She quickly knocked away the nearest creature on her and jumped back herself. The native creatures were also quick enough to jump away, so that this new figure pounded the ground with strong arms. So great was the strike that crack lines formed from the impact.

"Oh my... what is that?! WHO is that?" Steven cried out. Everyone watched as the figure pulled itself standing upright. It had an absolutely thick muscular structure, from the thickness of its arms and legs, to the thickness of its hands and feet. Its skin tone was a mix of black and very dark red.

The surrounding native creatures watched as this newcomer made its appearance. However, to the others' surprise, they did not attack it. In fact, the newcomer slightly turned its head to face one of them as it uttered more vocal clicking. It gave a simple nod, then turned back to the multi-colored invaders. It shifted its weight off of one leg, and everyone could now see something previously hidden on the back of its right leg.

"That's... could it really be?" Steven's hands covered over his mouth, "Another gem?!"

"Well now..." Garnet said, "I have to say even I did not see this coming..."

"A gem..." Citrine said, "Have a care, everyone; this situation has just gotten more serious..."

"What? Why?" Steven asked. He was ignored as Citrine spoke again.

"Peridot? Urgent development: gem presence detected and identified, possibly another defector!" Silence was what followed, which made Citrine grow more concerned, "Peridot report! Do you read?!"

"So, what are you supposed to be? Another gem runaway?" Jasper cast a look over her shoulder at Steven, "Hey, human! Looks like we've found another who took your advice!"

"Took my ad- what?" Steven said, thoroughly puzzled, "This is the first I've ever seen this gem! I don't even know its name!"

"The danger just keeps growing," Citrine drew his attention back to her, "Peridot is not responding at all! We must assume the worst and go back to ensure the ship is still functional!"

"Are you joking?" Jasper called out, "Things just got more interesting..." In a flash, her hammer-shaped helmet formed over her head. Before the other three had a chance to protest, she charged straight at the new gem. The red and black gem's eyes narrowed, and with a grunt, it planted its gem leg firmly behind it. It glowed as well, and in an instant, a rather heavy and spike-soled boot formed around the leg. The foot planted itself firmly into the ground, while it held its arms before it in anticipation of the blur of orange running straight at it.

The impact was hard, Jasper could feel it. She and the other gem could hear themselves grunting hard in their little shoving contest. Unfortunately for Jasper, no matter how hard she tried, she could not feel her opponent giving any inches at all. Probably because of that anchoring boot!

"Heh-heh, finally, a challenge!" she said in between her grunts.

"Let's go, you two!" Citrine said to Steven and Garnet, "If we move quickly we can try and lose these things!"

"But what about Jasper?" Steven pointed to the orange gem still in a deadlock.

"... A chance I'm willing to take," Citrine said, "Plus she did bring this on herself. We'll come back for her when we can!"

"No rush I say..." Garnet muttered to herself. The gold gem kicked one of the creatures out of her way, then pointed to the other two down that way to follow her. They began to move, but before they could, the sound of a screech drew their attention.

"YEEEAAAA!" Citrine noticed it, but still didn't move fast enough to avoid something hitting her. Something rushed right past her and smacked her in the leg, knocking her down on all fours.

"OW!" the gold gem cried out as she looked back, "What in the-?"

The figure came running up to Steven, and the boy could catch a solid look at it: pale, almost very light blue colored humanoid running as fast as it could. It was about as tall as Amethyst, with skinnier arms and legs. She bolted fast right towards Steven with a sly expression gracing her face, and a very sparkling round gemstone could be seen in her right cheek. Steven shielded his front with crossed arms, but was still surprised when he suddenly felt himself be lurched forward. He looked up to find the humanoid had actually leaped over him, like when he used to play leapfrog!

"Whoa, hey!" he called out, "Who are YOU now?"

"Steven-" Garnet rushed back to Steven's side. Both watched this new figure nearly beeline straight for Jasper and the other gem.

"Bloodstone!" the little figure called out with a high pitched screech. This new noise caught the attention of Jasper. Within that moment, she watched in surprise as the little figure actually ran up the incline that Jasper's body had formed. It reached the heads of the two, and with a front flip, landed perfectly on the back and shoulders of the other gem, 'Bloodstone'.

The dark red gem grunted with a smile this time. Still with its armored foot planted, it dropped quickly to one knee, so that now Jasper's force and weight was above her. With this new leverage, it easily lifted the orange into the air with both hands.

"Hey! Put me down, you-!" Jasper flailed, until her gaze landed on the gem that mounted Bloodstone.

"You! Bad gem!" the little one cried out, "We no like you!" She dropped herself down just enough so that her body was level with the upper back. With a mighty heave, the burly Bloodstone threw Jasper in the direction of Citrine, Steven, and Garnet. The three were quick to move again out of harm's way as Jasper skidded to a halt, though on her feet this time. She regained her balance.

"Now, are you quite done, Jasper?" Citrine sternly asked.

"Done with what? Teaching these... primitives a lesson?" Jasper pointed, "And there! Some more rogue gems on this backwater planet, probably protecting them..." It was true; by now, the native creatures had moved away and rejoined Bloodstone and the smaller gem.

"Yes, you were really teaching them a lesson just now..." Garnet snidely remarked, earning her a glare from Jasper.

"And have you forgotten something rather important?" Citrine said, "How a certain 'Malganon' is coming here, right now?"

"Hey yeah!" Steven added, "We need to be warning these guys, about how they're in danger-"

"No, I stand by what I said earlier," Citrine interrupted, "Peridot is not responding to my hails, so we must retreat to make sure the ship is still operational."

"A retreat? HA!" Jasper said, "Now you really are starting to sound like Jet! Yet another case of rogue gems that need beating, and all anyone can think of is running away?"

"As much as it absolutely pains me to say," Garnet quickly cut in, "Jasper does have a 'bit' of a point; these gems and native creatures will need to be occupied if someone returns to the ship, lest we'll all just lead them right to it."

"Well, we can do that, right Garnet?" Steven said, "You two can check on the ship while we stay here and deal with this!"

"Well..." Citrine actually considered, "That is tactically sound..."

"Hey! Bad gems!" the smaller gem's voice screeched out, "What you talk about? You no keep secrets!" Bloodstone in turn pounded its two fists into the ground once for good measure, while the surrounding native creatures clicked angrily and swung around their rock-slings. As one, they all slowly began to advance on Steven and his group, forcing them to take small steps back.

"ENOUGH!" A completely new voice rang out. As this got the fours' attention, four sounds of some sort of blaster rang out. Around them in a square, four small boxes embedded themselves into the ground. Once in place, four thin rays of pink light connected them in a perfect square, illuminating the surrounding area in a light pink glow.

"What the..." Citrine said, "Ray fields? Stay back, nobody touch them!"

"Yes, that is wise..." The new voice was heard again. Steven and his group looked around until they saw the rustling of mushroom foliage parting. Out into the clearing stepped a light pink figure, wielding a strange firearm with both hands, and a very serious expression through unblinking eyes.

"Trespassers."


	19. Clear as Diamond

A tense Emerald continued to watch and wait patiently. She had long lost track of how long they had been at this. The only thing that mattered right now was the blue gem before her.

Chrysoprase had been summoned and immediately was doing everything in her power to... well, whatever she could do for Diamond. Of course for this, Chrysoprase had requested closer proximity to the former gem sovereign for proper treatment. Emerald was understandably resistant, even if Diamond hadn't been showing any outward hostile intent. Still, they compromised on having primitive physical restraints inside the containment field placed on Diamond as Chrysoprase did her work. With every moment that passed, Emerald could see the frustration on Chrysoprase's face grow.

"That is enough, please lower the ray shield," Chrysoprase curtly announced. One of the Agate guardians complied. The cream-colored healer exited the area, while the other Agate guardian quickly released the blue gem from the physical restraints. Once she was clear, the restraints were lowered back into the floor via hidden ground panel, while the Agate herself quickly moved. Chrysoprase and Emerald stood side by side as the shield was reactivated.

"Well?" Emerald asked.

"Well... to clear up the smaller details," Chrysoprase began, "There were a surprising number of damaging cuts to both her body and her gem, which were easily remedied-"

"That's not what I mean, Chrysoprase," Emerald sharply cut in, "Were you able to do anything about... her-?" She was hesitant for some reason to mention the dark plasma taint, but luckily her counterpart took her meaning.

"You know as well as any gem here that being tainted by dark plasma cannot so simply be 'cured'," Chrysoprase felt the need for air-quotes, and Emerald could feel her spirits drop a little, "That being said, however... I find it curious how exactly the taint has affected her, specifically with those 'lines' there that spread across her body from her gem..."

"But how?" Emerald mused, "Do you think... it could represent a sort of 'permanent' imprint?"

"Hmmm, that is something to consider," Chrysoprase said.

"Just how can something like this happen?" Emerald pondered, to which Chrysoprase lightly shrugged. The green gem let her eyes drift back to the imprisoned gem, who was far more docile compared to the last time she'd seen her, "Is she well enough to speak with? Maybe even question?"

"I believe so, yes." Emerald nodded and turned to face Diamond. She looked straight at her face, even when the other didn't look back. Her eyes just stared at the floor, unmoving, uncaring.

"Diamond? Mistress Diamond? Can you hear me?" she called out. This time, the blue gem slowly looked up at her with calm eyes.

"I... can hear... yes," she spoke softly, "I can see, too... Emerald, and... Chrysoprase..."

"Yes Mistress Diamond," the cream-gem said, "It is I, Chrysoprase."

"And I'm..." Diamond looked around slowly, "Where am I...?"

"It's a holding cell, you're in our prisons," Emerald blinked.

"How did I... why am I here?" Emerald and Chrysoprase each shared a look.

"Mistress Diamond, do you really not remember? Anything?" the cream gem asked. Diamond shook after a moment of pondering.

"M-my memory is..." Diamond said, "It's all a haze... Trying to think back is... tiring..."

"Then..." Emerald pondered, "Do you remember the invasion of Earth? You took your seven bodies at once when you heard Rose Quartz's followers were there." At the mentioning of Rose Quartz, Diamond's head perked, if just a little.

"Rose Quartz..." she said, "That's right! She was still on Earth! Was our operation successful?"

"Um," Emerald said, "We were hoping you could tell us, along with any other important information of relevance."

"Indeed, as the only member of that operation still present and before us," Chrysoprase added. Diamond looked ready to speak, then hesitated. Emerald and Chrysoprase watched carefully as the blue gem's face grew more and more concentrated, struggling to recall her apparently illusive memories.

"I... there was... what," Diamond struggled, "No, I can't... four... Beetles, which... DRRGGGHHH! Pain!" The two gems recoiled as Diamond dropped to her knees and pounded a fist into the ground. After that, the next sounds to leave her mouth were almost incoherent noises. Accompanying this was her raising her head and showing off crazed eyes she had shown the first time.

"Re-engage the physical restraints," Emerald ordered. One of the Agates complied and within moments, Blue Diamond was physically restrained once again. Unable to shake any of her limbs, she was left with shaking her head hard side to side. Emerald and Chrysoprase took this as a morbid sign to step away, while gesturing to the two Agate guards to resume their roles.

"I'm afraid that might be all we can understand from Mistress Diamond right now," Chrysoprase said when they had moved a decent distance away, "Based on raw observation, she appears to be expressing symptoms akin to... withdrawal." This caused Emerald to look up in confusion.

"Withdrawal?"

"Yes, from the apparent struggle to form simple sentences, the way she appeared distant when she did speak to us, and of course..." a gesture of her hand showed them both that Diamond was gripping her head in her hands, groaning in agony.

"By Geode, seeing her like this..." Emerald shook her head sadly, "Are you sure there isn't any more you can do for her, Chrysoprase? You're the highest ranking gem healer on Crystarra!" The cream gem narrowed her eyes at both the green gem and the incarcerated blue gem.

"Please Emerald, you do not need to put me on the spot like this!" Chrysoprase said, then gave a deep sigh, "You know that we're still many years from successfully treating gems tainted by dark plasma..." She rested her gem pointer finger against her lower lip in thought, "But ... perhaps with more extensive treatments, maybe even with a few assistants-"

"Do it," Emerald quickly said, "Whatever it is you can do for her, just see it done." Nods were exchanged, and Emerald turned to exit the holding area, with Chrysoprase thoughtfully looking at her captive, former leader.

* * *

"So the short of it is, they're all ready?" Ruby Prime asked.

"Affirmative , General," Paraiba answered, "The repair gems have done all they can for the restoration of the majority of the ships." Ruby Prime looked behind the gem at the aforementioned ships. She hardly knew the first thing about technology and whatnot, but from what she could tell, Paraiba and her tech-type gems did a good job. A plethora of gems, the majority being warrior gems scurried about and piled themselves into the ships.

"Excellent... And what's the status on the dreadnought?" At this, Paraiba's eyes narrowed.

"The dreadnought? It's fully functional as well, but... it hasn't seen any activity since its inception."

"Well then, consider this its first major mission," Ruby Prime pounded her fist into her other palm, "I want it, plus all available capital ships and accompanying fighters to prepare for departure!" She didn't even bother waiting to hear what Paraiba's response would be, but out of the corner of her eye as she walked away, she could see that she would obey her command.

"Ruby Prime! Ruby Prime!" she turned her head as she walked to find Pink Tourmaline walking next to her, "What exactly is our plan? Are we planning for confrontation?"

"Just get to your assigned ship," the general quickly replied, "I'll soon relay my plan to everyone at the same time."

"Oh, very well then..." The sound of footsteps fading told her that the pink gem had walked away. She continued to walk until she finally found the lead capital ship. Few gems were still boarding it by this point, which meant that she was around the last one to enter. Before the entry, two different colored warrior gems saw her and saluted to her as she walked on board.

Inside, she made her way down its corridors until she found the main enlarged chamber, located in the center of the ship. Within, there were many more warrior gems of different colors, with many being Rubies almost identical in appearance to herself. Each turned to see that their general had arrived finally. They did not hesitate as they nearly swarmed around her, pestering her with the same question she'd been asked many times so recently.

"Enough, enough!" she held her hands up to the restless crowd, "Firstly, who is the gem pilot?" From the group, one raised her arm, a teal colored gem with robotics lining each one of her natural fingers.

"That would be me, General," she said, "Pilot gem Apatite, reporting for duty."

"Alright then, prepare this ship for departure," Ruby Prime said, "And send word to the other ships in the fleet as well to follow suit."

"Yes, General," Apatite saluted one arm over her chest, then left for one of the doors one side of the wall. Ruby Prime turned back to the crowd.

"As for you all, gather 'round," she walked until she was in the very center of the room, standing over a glowing circular holopad. The moment she stepped on, a transparent wall of blue light stretched up around her, capturing her every frame, "What I have to say, everyone must hear..." She waited a moment until the wall of blue light had raised well above her own height, then she began.

"My fellow gems," she began, "As you all know, or should be aware by now, we are planning a massive strike force, the likes of which rarely occur. I've told you what we're doing... but I've yet to tell you why..." She walked all around, as if trying to catch the faces of all the gem warriors around her who watched her. By now the ship rumbled slightly, signaling its gradual ascent from the ground.

"The truth of it is... none of what was gained so recently would have even been possible without the aid of the gems from Earth!" She noted the small murmur among the crowd, but continued, "It's hard to believe at first, but it's true; I personally led them in the expedition, and vouch for their fortitude! They had every right to refuse to help us in our plight, yet they still did, asking for nothing in return! They fought, even sacrificed, to stem the chaos that had razed our planet, allowing us to walk back upon it!" By now, in response to her passion, the gems' murmurs grew ever louder.

"And now... now we have the chance- no, the privilege, to capitalize on their efforts!" she pointed outward towards space, "That massive monster, Malganon, which had jeopardized our very way of life, is on the move! It can run, but it will not escape the might of the Crystarra Fleet! It's time to show it just what happens when you personally mess with the gems of Crystarra! Are we not one in this?!" The gems cheered in agreement, to which Ruby Prime gave a sly smirk, "Then man your posts, and be ready. Pilot Apatite! Make the jump to light-speed!"

"Yes General!" Apatite's voice was heard through speakers. All the other gems began to disperse, while still in excitement over the speech their general had just delivered. The thin ray-field of blue light surrounding her slowly vanished, and Ruby Prime smiled to herself as well.

'That should keep morale up,' she thought, 'Now to see just how much of a chance we stand...'

* * *

From the exterior balcony of the council-room, Emerald watched the sky as one by one, many ships of the fleet lifted off towards space. There they reached a great height, then instantly zoomed light years away.

"Good luck to you, General Ruby Prime," she said to herself, "I have a feeling you'll need it... As I'm sure we will here..." With that, she turned to reenter the council room to leave. Perhaps Chrysoprase had made some progress with Diamond...


	20. Gems in the crystal

Amethyst was almost in full-run by this point. She told herself to stay calm, but this constant feeling of claustrophobia plus paranoia of a strange and unfamiliar land was getting to be too much for her. Every step she took she would mentally triple check to make sure nothing bad would happen, while she would also look back over her shoulders in case anyone, or 'thing', was following her. By now she starting to lose her very sense of direction! This place was not at all welcoming, and the sooner she was off it, the better.

"Jeez, get a grip Amethyst!" she berated herself, "You've been in worse situations, haven't you?"

A sound close by put her on alert, and she dove for cover. The very first thing she found was a large, broad line of crystals, standing straight up side-by-side, almost like a fence. She crouched with her knees held close to her head, and was silent. She hardly even took a breath as she listened. It sounded like footsteps, plus someone making noise? Carefully, she peeked her head up to where she had heard the noise. Sure enough, she could see someone there: two gems of different colors held a third struggling gem by her arms and walked her forward.

"What the...?" Amethyst whispered to herself, "What's going on there?" Squinting her eyes, the two gems walked straight forward with nothing to distract them. From their very stiff movements, it was fair to guess that they were in fact gem drones, while the gem in the middle was very much not a drone, as she struggled and thrashed to free herself from her clutches.

"Unhand me! Release me now!" the gem's voice could be heard, "Help! Is there anyone out there?! Help!" When she was sure it was safe, Amethyst slowly raised herself to her feet, then unconsciously looked back over her shoulder to where the gem was being escorted. There were just two of them, right? She could take them out and rescue this one gem! Then maybe she could get some solid answers. Peeking over, however, what she saw made her eyes widen.

There was yet another crystal, but far bigger, wider, and taller than any other she had seen. And what's more, she could see a very faint glow of purple coming from its base. It was a glow that seemed to illuminate through the entire reach of the crystal's base. But with her eyes tracing around the base, it wasn't the only thing she saw, "Diamond!"

There she stood, arms crossed, eyes still that soulless purple, and surveying all that stood before her. For an instant, they seemed to look in her direction, and Amethyst quickly clamped a hand over her mouth for fear that she had given herself away just now. Thankfully, she didn't look at her, but at the gem drones that held the other gem in their arms. The gem stopped struggling for a moment as she saw exactly whom she was brought before.

"Diamond? Mistress Diamond?" the gem could be heard, but Diamond's face showed no change in emotion, "But, they said you caused the lightning on Crystarra! What's going on here-?!"

"Another to be brought to the embrace..." Diamond's emotionless tone was suddenly heard. She raised a palm up to the massive crystal and a blend of purple and red energy flowed from it into her hand. At the same time, she placed her other hand upon where the captive's gem was, much to her confusion, "You belong to the Master now!" The captive gem now started screaming, while its thrashing was less from trying to escape and more from whatever effect White Diamond was placing upon her. Eventually, the screaming stopped, and the gem slumped. The other two drones released their hold, and the gem raised her head back up. She said nothing, but met Diamond's dark plasma colored eyes with her own of the same color.

The entire time, Amethyst watched this scene play out with horror filled eyes. She suddenly saw one of the drones' head twitch, causing her do practically dive back into her hiding form. Had they seen her?! Maybe they hadn't...

"Wait a sec..." Amethyst thought aloud as she returned to hiding, "If she's here, that means that other yellow Diamond must be here as well! But where is she...?" She carefully peeked over again, but she didn't see any familiar yellow-toned gems, "I can't believe it, Diamond's turning gems into... That Diamond; she somehow must have brought me here: to have it happen to me as well!" She gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her whip, "Well, I at least won't go down without a fight...!" She rose to her feet, letting any doubts to her impromptu plan fade from her mind. She'd have to surprise White Diamond by letting the drones walk away and getting the jump on her, but she felt she could do it.

As she was about to make her move, yet another sound off to the side and close by caught her attention. Figured that something would try and keep her plan from going exactly the way she planned. She'd have to dispatch this newcomer, and fast...

The noise, now clearly someone making footsteps, was upon her, and accompanying figures stepped into her little clearing. Amethyst raised her arm back for a quick snap, but stopped herself just in time. Who she saw before her made her breath hitch.

* * *

"Hold a minute, Pearl," Spodumene suddenly stopped, causing Pearl to look back.

"What is it, Spodumene? We can't afford delays!" Pearl insisted. They had to be closing in on Amethyst by now, what was the hold up?

"Just a moment please, I think my enhancer is malfunctioning..." Spodumene patted the side of her robotic limb enhancer hard with her left hand.

"Really, now of all times this has to happen?" Pearl voiced aloud.

"Come on, you..." Spodumene pounded hard one last time, "Wait, that's strange." She looked back up at Pearl, "This wasn't a malfunction, it was a power flux."

"What does that mean?"

"Something nearby almost caused my enhancer to surge in power strength rather than inhibit it," she said, "Something nearby..." Each sharing a look, they looked back in the direction they were initially heading. This time they took gentle steps as they neared another wall of crystals. Quickly, but quietly, they both summoned their respective weapons. Cautiously, they stepped around the corner, anxious as to what it was they'd find-

Spodumene was forced to stop when she found that Pearl had stopped rather abruptly. She was about to question her, until she looked before them. Her eyes widened in shock and surprise as to what, or rather 'who', was standing before them.

"A-Amethyst?" Pearl softly said, her voice clearly breaking. There she was, Amethyst, her tank top black this time. She held her whip in her hand, poised to strike, just as Pearl and Spodumene were. Her bagged eyes had a faint craze to them as she looked at them. Pearl slowly took a step towards her, then almost recoiled when Amethyst did not reciprocate.

"Whoa, stay back you... drone!" the purple gem held her whip hand back, "D-Don't think I can't take you down!"

"Drone, wha-?" Pearl said, "Amethyst, it's me! Pearl!" As she spoke, Amethyst actually lowered her whip hand to her hip.

"You talk? ...Pearl? Is that really you?" Amethyst's eyes began to tear up, and Spodumene was pretty sure Pearl's were as well. Slowly, the two moved in on each other, both dropping their weapons from their hands. They finally met and captured the other in a massive hug. Amethyst leaped into Pearl's arms, leaving the latter to practically spin her in place.

"Pearl..." Amethyst cried into Pearl's shoulder, "You... came for me!"

"Of course I did, Amethyst," Pearl cried as well. Spodumene watched the scene unfold from behind, not even trying to keep the smile from her face. She glanced down at her limb enhancer; yet another power flux, and occurring more frequently. Something was definitely nearby, and they'd need to be on their way soon. However, she decided to let the two gems have their moment; they needed it.

After what felt like an eternity to them, Pearl let Amethyst down and separated from her. Amethyst wiped her eyes but kept her ever-growing smile as she looked at her.

"Oh Amethyst, I'm so glad I found you! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Geez Pearl, I'm fine! Well I mean, my belly wound's been hurtin' like heck, but now I'm..." Amethyst lightly pushed Pearl's probing hands from her arms, "But, where's Steven and Garnet?"

"Oh, well um..." Pearl started, but was unsure how to explain the circumstances.

"Steven and Garnet are probably still back on Crystarra," Spodumene spoke up, earning Amethyst's attention.

"Spodumene? You're here too?"

"Yes Amethyst, I am," the fusion-born said, "Pearl... wanted to save you, to get you back to us so badly, so she... stole a ship and flew up to... where you seemed to be." Amethyst blinked at Pearl.

"You mean you 'stole' a spaceship?" she gave Pearl a sly smirk, "Well well, Pearl, I never would've expected you to do something so criminal!"

"Spodumene!" Pearl admonished with a raging blush, "Th-that was embarrassing!"

"But it was the truth, wasn't-" Yet another noise from her limb enhancer drew her attention again, "Oh blasted thing!" With both her left hands she furiously readjusted various settings on her device, only fueling her frustration.

"Well anyway," Pearl said, "I've found-, er I guess 'we' found you," she hand motioned between her and Spodumene, "Now let's get you out of here!"

"Okay yeah, that's probably a good idea!" Amethyst clapped her palms together once, "And quickly before Diamond catches us." Completely abruptly, Pearl and Spodumene's eyes shot up to meet hers.

"Diamond?!" the almost shouted.

"Whoa, keep it down, you two!" Amethyst held her hands up, then pointed behind her, "She is literally right over there, like right behind this crystal wall!"

"Really?" Spodumene asked, quieter, "Well, what is she doing?" The purple gem turned her head around to the wall she had described. As she did, the other two saw that her expression turned serious.

"It's really freaky, but I think she's helping turn gems into those drones!" Amethyst said, earning Pearl and Spodumene's eyes to widen a bit, "Yeah! I saw a couple of them dragging another gem with them, one that wasn't all 'drone-y' like they were, and Diamond..." Spodumene carefully made her way to the wall of crystals that Amethyst had stood before, and peered over the top of them. Pearl and Amethyst did the same.

Sure enough, there stood White Diamond, still in her same spot thatf Amethyst had first seen her in. She stood at the base at one of the crystals, this one very much wider, taller, and glowing a purplish reddish glow at its base. Only this time, a number of gem-drones had gathered with her around the base with their attention focused solely on her. Diamond didn't appear to be saying anything to them, despite her arms moving, or perhaps the trio couldn't hear what was being said.

"Diamond! She really is there!" Spodumene said, quietly.

"Yeah, like I said," Amethyst pointed out.

"Well, whatever it is she's planning, I'd rather not stick around to find out," Pearl said, stepping away, "Come on, we should leave now while we have the chance."

"Um... yeah, that's also what I said," Amethyst said again. Spodumene silently looked at her limb enhancer yet again. This time, instead of disappointment for its recent behavior, the readings it gave surprised her. She studied it carefully, then looked back up at the structure.

"Wait a minute..." she looked at Pearl and Amethyst, "I'm reading massive energy emissions from that... 'structure' there! It might be what's been interfering with my limb enhancer!"

"Interesting, Spodes," Amethyst said, "But why should we care again?"

"Suppose its some sort of energy supplier for what we stand upon?" Spodumene indicated to the ground beneath them, "And furthermore, why is Diamond interested in it?"

"Spodumene, I really don't think this is something to concern ourselves with," Pearl said, "We should just head back while there's still-!" As she said this, something above them drew Spodumene's attention.

"Pearl, Amethyst, look," she pointed, and the two looked as well, "Look at the stars, they're not moving..." It was true, the stars had stopped moving suddenly and had slowed down to what could be perceived as stationary, "We're not moving at light-speed anymore..."

A moment passed, when suddenly, the trio felt tremors beneath their feet. They held their balance, except for Amethyst, who had taken a tumble.

"Ooof!" she breathed as she landed back against the crystal wall. As she tried to pull herself up, she felt immediate movement behind her, forcing her to scramble away into Pearl and Spodumene's waiting arms. The three of them watched as the wall of crystals actually began to sink into the ground.

"What the heck is happening...?" Amethyst said as they watched. All around, the crystals that had once towered all around them in a massive forest were sinking. In no time, they were all gone, giving them a much clearer view of where they stood. The ground appeared dark in color, along with a strange fleshy texture. In fact, Pearl winced her face in disgust when she placed a firm foot down, only for it to actually feel squishy.

"Revolting!" she said, "We ARE on this creature's back!"

"Creature? What creature?" Amethyst asked. Pearl looked at her, then realized Amethyst had not the slightest idea what this even was.

"Ah, that's right!" Pearl said, "Well, to put it simply, We are physically treading upon an ancient gem terror that existed thousands of years ago." Amethyst blinked.

"Uh-huh... And while we're at it, Earth's Tooth Fairy also exists, right?"

"Amethyst! I'm being completely serious right now-"

"Um, Pearl? Amethyst?" Spodumene spoke up, "We might be in trouble now..." Pearl and Amethyst looked away from each other to Spodumene, then to where she was pointed, and their eyes widened. Before, a wall of crystals was the only think keeping them out of sight of White Diamond and a legion of gem drones. Now, they all had an unimpeded view of the trio, and were staring directly at them.

"Oh dear..." Pearl breathed. The three of them were unconsciously taking steps back as they stared forward. The white colored Diamond slowly raised one hand up, then pointed straight at them. As one, the surrounding gem-drones rushed towards them like a crushing wave.

"Please tell me you two have some way off this thing!" Amethyst cried out. With the three of them breaking into runs away, Spodumene could now see a much clearer view of the landscape. With the exception of two massive glowing crystals jutting straight out from the ground, the only other crystals ran in rows down a length of Malganon. They stretched all the way down across a tail that was now visible, ending with jagged crystals that took the form of a claw.

Midway along the rows, Spodumene could see two things: a smoking wreckage, and the untouched shuttle. The latter made her smile with hope.

"Over there, look! We can see where we're going! The shuttle is just down the back, a few hundred-" A whooshing sound was the only warning she had, but Spodumene was still lucky enough to jerk her body to the left. A blast of energy soared past where she had stood, and she quickly looked over her shoulder. White Diamond was still stationary, holding another sizzling ball of energy in her other hand poised to throw.

Following this example, some of the other gem-drones began to launch various projectiles at the three, from solid weapon-shapes to intangible energy blasts. Pearl quickly grabbed her dropped spear from the ground and parried what she could while she ran.

"Let's go then, hurry! Come on, Amethyst!" she cried out. The three of them were now sprinting as fast as their legs could carry, with Pearl and soon Spodumene deflecting any projectiles that were in danger of hitting them. The shuttle grew ever larger as they neared it, but as they ran, Spodumene suddenly gasped out loud.

"No! Pearl, I just remembered, the space inside the Crystarra fighter is too compact! There's no way we'd be able to fit, especially with three of us!"

"What, seriously?!" Amethyst said, "Why hadn't you come in something that could carry all us?!"

"That wasn't my concern at the time!" Pearl said as they ran, "My only concern was finding you and getting you out of here! Now what can we do?" Only a few more feet to travel to the ship, they had to think of something fast. As she ran, Amethyst's eyes narrowed, then lit up.

"I think I know!" she said, "You said the three of us can't fit in there? What if just one of us went in, while the other two were just as gems?"

"Just as gems? You mean release our forms?" Pearl asked. She somehow felt the need to call error in the plan, but she actually processed it in her head, and it actually wasn't that bad an idea, "I think... maybe that could work! Spodumene?" The ship was now before them, and they skidded to a halt.

"That... could work, but I'd have to remain since I'm the more capable pilot!" A glowing ring materialized over her glowing gem over her forearm, and she threw it past Amethyst and Pearl. It traveled all the way back until it bounced and ricocheted between three gem-drones that had almost reached them. They weren't damaged enough to dispel their forms, but time was bought by knocking them to the ground.

"It's settled then, are you ready Amethyst?" Pearl said. The purple gem nodded, and in unison they clenched their eyes shut and exploded in clouds of colored dust. Through the clouds, their gems fell forward into Spodumene's lower hands.

"Don't worry, you two, you'll be safe with me..." she hugged the two gems close to her body with the two hands, while her other arms pulled her into the fighter's cockpit. The cabin window snapped shut and she worked like a flash to bring everything back to power. She spared glances outside to find not only more gem drones approaching, but White Diamond herself as well!

"Come on, come on..." she feverishly moved, accessing the controls. The ship jerked from the initial frantic movement, but Spodumene quickly regained control. She looked down to see that she had the gem-drones had just barely missed her from her take off. She nearly smirked, until her eyes traveled further up to find White Diamond with her hand raised. Or was it widening?

"Argh!" the ship rocked violently to the side, Spodumene tried to hold steady. Looking back, White Diamond had extended her own arm somehow and morphed the end extremity into a massive pinching claw! Another few inches toward the base of the ship, and she might have had them, or even shredded through it completely.

"Must get us out of here..." Another strike from White Diamond's enlarged arm came, but her strike had reached too high, and the lengthened arm could now be seen through the view-port over the side wing. Spodumene quickly punched the thruster hard and was rewarded with the sound of shattering. She looked over her shoulder to find tiny white shards raining away from the side of her ship. Shaking her head, she maintained a climb in altitude and flew further away, "Finally! I think we're well out of... danger..."

The further she flew, the more detailed a view she could see of Malganon, and how it continued to surprise her.

Malganon's form had changed dramatically. No longer was it a massive body of white spiked crystals with arms and a head on bottom. Now, an actual body could be seen: dark scaly skin, almost reptilian. It now sported a set of legs, with spiked toes and even spikes over and around its kneecaps. The crystals that once covered its back were gone, clearly showing a ridge-line of three rows running along its back down along a very long tail. On its back however, two particular crystals did remain: two massively protrusions sprouting from the tops of its shoulders.

"By Geode..." Spodumene breathed, and in her astonishment, she almost forgot she was piloting a ship, with rather important cargo. She gripped the flight sticks with the intent on returning to Crystarra. As she did though, movement drew her eyes back to Malganon.

The massive hybrid was floating towards... a planet? Where had that come from? Had Malganon traveled through light-speed just to come here? The planet itself was strikingly blue-toned, its color reminding Spodumene of the color of the large bodies of water that Earth had. And this foul creature had come here now, to do... who knows what!

"What to do...?" she said to herself, "Maybe I can... I can send a distress message to Crystarra, tell them to send the fleet to this planet while Malganon is here... yes," She looked down at the two gems in her hands, "I'm sorry, you two, but I need to do this, then I'll get us back to Crystarra..." Determination renewed, she steered her ship planet-side, taking great care to avoid risk of Malganon catching direct sight of her.


	21. First impressions

"You..." Steven blinked, "Can you understand us?" He stared out through the pink colored tint of the field that surrounded him and his gem comrades. On the other side, the planet's natives stood by and watched, some twitching their heads and others clutching their rock slings tighter. The clicking sounds they made quietly to each other ranged from passive and angry. Even through the field, Steven carefully studied them; they really had no face, just weird growths of tendrils that resembled fungus covering their heads entirely. They were dressed in very primitive apparel, which was mostly barks of wood and even plant-life stitched together.

Movement caught his eye, and Steven was reminded of the fact that gems were accompanying them. The large, burly Bloodstone stood among the natives, arms thick and massive enough that the knuckles were almost always dragging the ground. She wore a simple black tunic that barely contrasted with her dark red skin tone, with white hair that was as simple a flat top as one could be.

There was also the other gem that rode on Bloodstone's back and watched over her shoulders. This one was light blue in color, but wore the stitched clothing that the natives wore as well. She almost always wore a mischievous grin, which contrasted from Bloodstone's stern, frowning face. In fact, the two seemed to be complete opposites when it came to physical appearances.

Lastly, the third gem kept her eyes trained on the captive group the entire time as she slowly joined the natives. This gem held in her two hands a sort of cannon by two underside sticks, the open barrel trained on Steven and the group. She twitched this weapon up at the boy in response to his question, and Steven flinched with his palms up.

One of the natives leaned its head in close to the light pink gem, and appeared to communicate something to her. The language was completely unidentifiable, yet the gem seemed to understand completely. She took a step closer to the group.

"You... invaders, aren't you?" she asked.

"Well, no we-" Steven started.

"Quiet Steven," Citrine suddenly interrupted, "This situation calls for careful diplomacy..." Garnet gave a sound like she meant to add something, but held her tongue.

"My name is Citrine," the gold gem announced, "I am a representative of the Galactic Gem Society's Council..."

"The what?" the pale pink gem said, then gave a very short and dry humorless chuckle, "Really, is that the Authority is calling itself now?"

"Nonetheless," Citrine resisted the urge to clarify that meaning, "Urgent business required for us to come here, and-"

"Bad gems!" the small blue gem exclaimed, "You invade home! We cast you out!" Beneath her, Bloodstone clenched her fists and hardened her facial expression.

"Bloodstone! Druzy! I'll handle this..." the pink gem said, "Whatever 'business' you claim to have, I seriously doubt it will bode well, for anyone..."

"Argh! Release me this instant!" a nasal sounding voice caught everyone's attention. Off to the side, a few more natives entered the clearing, holding Peridot over their heads. They tossed her down to the ground, close to the ray field without her actually touching it, and rejoined the pink gem.

"Hmmm?" she said aloud as they communicated with her. Peridot rose to her feet.

"They dared to handle me like some inanimate object? Of all the..." she looked up at the pink gem, then down at the weapon she held, and widened her eyes in surprise, "Wait... That? 'That's the anomaly we've been tracking? A prototype mobile ray field projector? I haven't seen one of those in-"

"Peridot?" Citrine called out, "What happened? What's the status of the ship?"

"Citrine?" Peridot looked behind her, "The ship is perfectly fine, assuming, but these filthy natives actually stole me away and dragged me about! And what's more..." she pointed at the pink gem, "That 'gem' there is actually holding the 'anomaly' the scanner had identified!"

"Then this complicates things..." Citrine said, "As I was trying to say, we have not come here in the interest of conquest and colonization."

"Yeah, we only came to this garbage planet because of Malganon!" Jasper stepped up close to the the ray field, earning her glares from both the three gems and her own comrades.

"You'd best mind what you say," the pink gem said, "Considering where you stand..."

"Jasper! She has the right of it!" Citrine quietly admonished, "We stand in the center of ray fields-"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that..." Jasper cut in, "These fields are put around us, right? So I could just do this!" Without any further input, she bent both her knees and leaped into the air, well over the height of the ray fields. Everyone watched as she came back down the ground, the pink gem and Peridot quickly stepping back out of her way. Jasper rose off her knees with a triumphant smirk.

"Ha! You thought you held me, but I thought outside your little box!" she taunted, then looked over at Bloodstone and her charge. The pink gem said nothing, but tightened her grip on her two-handed contraption. She was quick to act when Jasper charged at them and rapidly fired twice at a section of ground between them. Almost instantly, another ray field wall formed that was about her height. Jasper was far too slow to react quick enough, and her body collided with the now solid field. Her entire body spasmed as if it was electrocuted, then fell backwards to the ground. At the sight of this, some of the natives began making a throaty clicking noise that could vaguely be heard as laughter.

"Urgh..." Jasper groaned as she rubbed her head.

"Ha ha!" the small blue gem laughed, "Bad Gem, you get wallop!"

"Hmph, your comrade is not too bright, is she?" the pink gem spoke rhetorically. She aimed her device at the field and it dissipated, allowing the two projectiles to fly back into it, "Now, I'll ask again: why have you come here?"

"Jasper..." Citrine pinched the bridge of her nose, "As I've been trying to say, it is the gravest of circumstances that bring us here. An ancient enemy of all gem-kind is coming here right now to this planet, presumably in search of something. We've come here to hopefully find it before it does..." The pink gem's eyes narrowed and her mouth pursed.

"Come on, it's all true," Steven spoke up, "And we really weren't trying to hurt anyone; we came here because Malganon is coming!"

"This 'ancient enemy' has a name?" the pink gem skeptically asked.

"Yeah it does, and..." Steven continued but stopped, "Wait, we haven't been introduced, have we? My name is Steven, this is Garnet, Citrine, that out there is Peridot, and that on the ground is Jasper." He pointed to everyone as he listed off their names. The pink gem studied the boy now.

"Why do you identify yourself so casually to someone you don't know?" she asked.

"Well, because..." Steven said, "I learned that the first thing to do when you wanna try to make friends is learn each other's names." The pink gem held her grip on her weapon for a moment, and to everyone's mild surprise, lowered it to her waist, "So, fellow gem; would you like to tell us your name? All your names?" She glanced back at the onlooking natives and her own gem comrades.

"Perhaps... Perhaps I will release you from that containment; am I to trust that you will not try anything?"

"You have our most sincere promise," Garnet said. At this, the pink gem aimed her weapon at the four boxes. The flat fields surrounding them dissipated as the small boxes shot back into the barrel of her weapon.

"In that case, you may call me... Morganite," she cautiously introduced, "My two partners there are Bloodstone and Druzy." She released her weapon to one hand down at her side, "And now that your introductions have been sated, I must ask that you all leave." Steven blinked in surprise.

"Wha- leave? Why?" he asked, walking forward with Garnet behind him. Citrine moved over to assist Peridot in raising Jasper to her feet.

"You are keeping your word of no hostilities, correct?" Morganite said, "Then in light of that, I'm allowing you the chance to depart from our world promptly." She looked over at the one native who had been injured, "Furthermore, your brute gem there injured our own, and must be treated."

"Bad gem, she hurt Golliak and Nyphur!" Druzy said. She flipped off of Bloodstone's back and rushed to the natives that clutched their midsections.

"Oh yeah, you two are the ones that got hurt..." Steven said as his eyes suddenly lit up, "Wait, you can leave it to me then! I could heal them!"

"Heal them? How do you propose...?" Morganite asked as Steven slowly walked forward. As he did though, Druzy apprehensively bared her teeth at the boy, to which Bloodstone growled as well.

"Steven-" Garnet reached a hand out.

"Wait you two..." Morganite said, "I'm... mildly curious; allow him space."

"But Morgie! They could hurt-"

"Just do it," Morganite sternly said. Begrudgingly, Druzy backed away from the two natives and rejoined the hulking Bloodstone.

"It's okay... Druzy, and Bloodstone, I promise what I'm gonna do will not hurt them," Steven licked both of his palms, "Okay you two, try not to be too grossed out..." He placed his palms against their exposed midsections, earning various tonal clicking sounds from them. He pulled his hands away and waited. After a few moments, the faintest of sparkles formed around the points of contact. The two felt around their bellies, then made clicking sounds of what sounded like joy and relief.

"Yes! It worked that time!" Steven smiled at his handiwork. He looked back at Morganite, whose curious expression turned to one of mild surprise.

"You... how did you...?" she asked. The two natives, named Golliak and Nyphur, rejoined her at her sides. They clicked to her, to which she casually listened, and understood, "You are? Completely?" She looked back at Steven, "What species are you, that possesses healing powers on par with that of a gem healer?"

"Me? Well, I'm just your average human," he said, then cast a glance at the gems behind him, "Who also has a little bit of my Mom's side in me..." To prove his point, he lifted the hem of his shirt to the natives and the other three gems. The creatures reacted with various clicking sounds ranging from inquisitive to excited.

"There, gem!" Druzy pointed out, "Look like... Quartzie!" Morganite's eyes widened.

"But, how is that possible? That's- between two species? It's..." she shook her head, "I don't want to think about this. So, Citrine was it? You claim that an ancient gem entity is coming here? Do you have some sort of evidence or proof to support your claim?"

"Proof?" Citrine asked, "What sort of- Oh! Peridot, do you not have Spodumene's recording?"

"Recording?" Peridot said, "Oh yes, I believe she did pass it to myself and other tech gems..." She held up one of her limb enhancers to allow its fingers to rotate in midair and form a transparent display. Her other hand's fingers pressed a few more buttons, and she then had the screen rotate to face Morganite. Appearing before her was the recording that had been taken on the surface of Crystarra when Malganon first appeared. Morganite's look of intrigue as Peridot initially presented gradually turned to once of concern as she watched the recording. Malganon's roar was heard and every native clicked nervously. The playback ended and Peridot's fingers dispelled the display between them and returned to their original form. For the first time since initial contact, Druzy's face held concern and even fear, rather than mischief.

"Big, scary monster! Worse than Bad Gem!" Druzy commented as she pointed to Jasper, earning her a growl.

"This is... dire, to say the least... And that thing is coming here?" Morganite said. She turned to one of the natives and spoke softly, "Send word to the others at the village, and let them know... I vouch for this claim." The native clicked in agreement and departed.

"So that's it then, you really do believe us?" Steven asked.

"Well, the evidence presented by the tech gem here seems genuine..."

"I am called Peridot, please," the olive gem quickly cut in.

"-Which means we need to be ready," Morganite continued, "I may trust that you yourselves have no hostile intentions, but I must still respectfully ask that you stay out of our way."

"B-But we're here now, we could defend your planet with you!" Steven said.

"Steven, our top priority is not the defense of this planet-" Citrine said.

"Oh come on!" Steven said, "Malganon could be here any second and you say we shouldn't help them out?"

"I am inclined to agree with Steven," Garnet seriously spoke up, "Morganite, Steven and myself understand implicitly the importance of defending what you hold dear. Our own leader fought for the preservation of life on her planet, as is evident that you do as well." A thoughtful expression graced Morganite's face this time.

"Morgie," Druzy softly said, "We... no turn them away. We let them help..." Below her, Bloodstone nodded in agreement.

"By all the stars..." Morganite said, "If you're so adamant on becoming more involved than you already are... I suppose a bolstering of defense might not hurt."

"Yes? Alright!" Steven said, "So just tell us what you need us to do!"

"Well, I'd first ask that you'd keep that gem under tighter control," Morganite pointed to Jasper. Rather than show irritation, Jasper crossed her arms with a scoff.

"What, you worried I smash you when you turned your back?" she said, "I just... don't see the point in it right now..."

"And, I suppose you'll need to be shown the village," Morganite said, "Simply follow us and-" A very loud and frantic clicking sound filled the air. The group of natives broke to allow a single one to rush forward and join with Morganite.

"What are you doing? Have you spread word to..." Morganite stopped when the native clicked more in between breaths. Gradually, her eyes widened. "Are... you certain?" The native nodded its head, and Morganite cast quick glances up at the sky before looking back down, "Bloodstone, Druzy, everyone! Head back to the village now!"

"Village? Danger? Let's go Bloodstone!" Druzy exclaimed, then held her grip on Bloodstone's back. The two and the other natives quickly turned to run into a deeper section of the forest. Morganite was about to herself, until she turned back to the otherworldly invaders.

"It's time to choose sides: are you ally or our foe?"

"Wha- ally of course!" Steven quickly said.

"Then follow us, your coming here may have not been for nothing..." Morganite said as she began to run to join the natives.

"Everyone, we must not lose sight of why we've come here!" Citrine insisted, "If Malganon has come here in search of something, we'll need to secure it before it can be allowed to!"

"But these peoples' planet is about to be under attack!" Steven said, "We need to help however we can! Can't that come later?"

"We might be able to do both," Garnet said to Steven and Citrine, "If we help the people of this planet, they'd be more willing to trust us, maybe even to divulge information..."

"Hmph, figures that rogue gems would want to help other rogue gems," Jasper offhandedly said.

"That will be quite enough, Jasper!" Citrine spun around to look straight up into the orange gem's face, "It's gotten to where you of all gems are being more impossible to work with than the 'rogue gems' you keep antagonizing! They've at least been contributing to this mission, and what have you done?! I'd say nearly everything you have done so far has jeopardized us completely!" Jasper opened her mouth to speak, but Citrine continued, "Now, we're getting this done, preferably without any further detraction! If you cannot even handle that, I will have you personally bubbled and made to wait on the ship! Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Slowly Jasper's lips pursed.

"Yes..." she quietly grumbled.

"What was that?" Citrine asked loudly.

"I said yes! I'll do whatever you want..." Jasper relented. At this, Citrine let out a small huff, then turned to Peridot.

"Now, I'm assuming you still know where the ship is, correct?"

"Well, I fairly certain I can-"

"I need you to quickly return to ship and prep it," Citrine said, "Maybe even move it closer to where we're going in the interest of possible escape routes..."

"R-right away, Citrine, I shall retrace the steps taken as best I can..." Peridot saluted one arm over her chest, then quickly departed in the opposite direction. Citrine then turned to Steven, Garnet, and Jasper.

"Alright you three, let's head out and catch up with them!" With that she led the way, dashing off in the direction that Morganite and the others had gone, the other three right behind her. Navigating a completely foreign landscape might have proven impossible at first, but luckily the natives and their gems had left a fairly easy trail to follow with disturbed brush and foot prints. Most notable were the footprints that clearly belonged to the burly Bloodstone.

"I still can't really believe it, Garnet," Steven said as they ran, "Actual gems who aren't us hiding on a different planet! Could they be this planet's Crystal Gems?"

"This does seem very real," Garnet agreed, "The parallels are there, at least."

"Did you know any of these gems? Did you meet any of them on Crystarra?" Steven asked.

"I'm afraid not, Steven," Garnet said, "At least not personally."

"But that Bloodstone..." Citrine spoke up, "A strong, yet simpleton brute... she actually reminds me of the early iterations of gem miners..."

"Gem miners?" Steven asked.

"Before technological efficiency came about," Citrine explained, "Some gems were conceived for the sole purpose of mining future gems from the ground of that planet. Progress was fruitful, but far too slow to meet demand."

"That's not exactly something you could blame the miners themselves for," Garnet pointed out.

"I never said that," Citrine said.

"So then... that's why the kindergartens were made?" Steven asked, to which Citrine nodded.

"Quick and efficient, and through many trials perfected nearly every gem to live up to its potential." Garnet was silent in thought as they continued their run. Suddenly before them, Morganite's form could be seen, apparently having slowed down from running. She was the last of her own to reach the apparent edge of the forest area, and was passing through the tall mushroom line.

The pink gem cast a brief glance over her shoulder at them as they joined her, then looked forward again. Steven and his gems now looked out at a new setting: a vast valley beside a large body of water. The water itself reflected the light green of the sky above, shimmering along with its waves. As for the mainland, a multitude of rustic clay buildings could be seen. Some were attached to the mushrooms themselves while others were littered all along the ground. They ranged in size from large to small, with older ones looking gray and newer ones a more tan color. Even more natives could be seen as blue specks, rushing between the buildings and into them.

"That's the village?" Steven asked, "Wow, there's so many of the natives there..."

"And where is it?" Morganite ignored Steven and asked the native. It clicked a few times then pointed its appendage toward the sky. She looked up with squinted eyes... "That's... really..." The others looked as well. It was difficult to see at first, until a small dark speck against the sky could be seen, very slowly growing in size. The larger it grew, the more could be seen of it: a dark body with something white surrounding it from the back, with two small eyes that glowed a vicious red.


	22. Malganon cometh

"That's really it, isn't it?" Steven breathed, "Malganon."

"It looks... kinda big," Jasper found herself admitting.

"Come everyone! We have to get down there!" Morganite announced. Leading the way, she ran forward towards the village as fast as her legs could carry, her gems and the natives following close behind. The path however was actually a steep incline off a cliff wall with tiny mushrooms and fungi sprouting through that broke up the singular color monotony. Morganite and the natives easily and deftly jumped down, while Druzy rode Bloodstone's back as they leaped down as well.

Steven and his group of gems looked at each other once, then proceeded to jump as well.

"Okay, shouldn't be that haAAAARRRD!" Steven found he had stepped upon a rather loose rock and dislodged it, sending him tumbling down the cliff-side, "Whooooaaaa!"

Garnet watched out of the corner of one of her eyes as the boy gracelessly descended. He would be fine, if she could just...

Almost as one the natives reached the ground and continued to rush towards the village, leaving Morganite, Bloodstone, and Druzy to touch down and wait. They looked up in time to see the other gems finish their descent. Jasper landed one knee down and punching the ground all at once, while Citrine and Garnet both landed gracefully on their feet. A sound growing louder drew their attention up again, and watched as Steven tumbled down like a boulder. Or rather, everyone except for Garnet, who simply held an open palm up next to her head. The next instant, Steven landed upside down on his head perfectly in the palm of her hand.

"Oh! Heh-heh wow, thanks Garnet!" he laughed. With a smile in return, Garnet placed him on his feet at her side.

"Alright everyone, let's move-!" Morganite started but was cut off by something. A deep booming sound filled the air, shortly after followed by a tremor felt through the ground. The gems were unaffected by the tremor, but Steven and even the natives were shifted off balance from it, "By the- what now?!"

"Look!" Garnet pointed. Out in the distance were Malganon once was, there was now a massive cloud of blue colored dust and dirt that seemed to have come from the ground. Everyone watched tensely for a moment, until through the cloud a familiar set of glowing eyes were seen. Instantly the top of the cloud broke as a very loud noise filled the air. This time everyone present was forced the clutch the sides of their heads to block the sound of this... roar.

The cloud had cleared, and for the first time that day, Malganon could be seen in perfect clarity. Its head was definitely reptilian, with jagged teeth and even small tusks at the corners of the mouth. Adorning the center of its head was a tri-pointed crystal that resembled a crown, a sickly yellow crown that contrasted from its dark purple skin color. From both its shoulders were two tall and wide crystals that looked like they sprouted from within its body itself, while another row of jagged crystals jutted up along its spine all the way down the length of a rather long spiked tail.

"By all the stars..." Morganite breathed, "So you really weren't lying..."

"Yeah, we weren't!" Steven said, "Now how do we stop that thing?!"

"Everyone, move closer into the village...!" Morganite led the way. Everyone moved until the primitive buildings of the village were right before them. Morganite then held her two handed weapon before her and pressed a button on its side. Instantly, walls of pink ray fields rose all around the village, forcing Jasper to jump forward slightly to avoid accidental contact of the wall now behind her.

"You had ray fields around this settlement?" Citrine asked, "That's clever."

"Ray fields. Keep bad gems out!" Druzy said.

"It's like your own little fortress wall..." Steven said, "But I just hope he didn't notice..." Steven's words died in his throat. Slowly, Malganon turned its red-eyed gaze to the ray fields, a stab of pink against a blue landscape.

"Great, with these fields it knows exactly where we are!" Jasper said. Malganon raised its clawed hands until they were level with its head, and the outsides of them began to glow purple. More rumbling was felt through the ground, but lighter this time, not strong enough to knock anyone off balance. Nothing appeared to happen at first, until Steven squinted further at something next to Malganon.

"Hey, what's that... white thing...?" The realization hit everyone hard; tall towers of crystals began erupting straight out of the ground all around it, completely eviscerating any plant-life unlucky enough to be tangled up against it. Every new tower that sprouted, a mushroom was destroyed, which made Druzy ever more vocal.

"Aaaagggghhh!" she screeched, "Big Monster! Leave home alone!" Even Bloodstone's grunts sounded desperate even as she pounded the ground with her fists.

"That fiend..." Morganite breathed, "That... evil monster..."

"-Is doing something else," Garnet pointed out. All the while, the two crystals on its shoulders began to glow red as its eyes. Soon sparks of red lightning began arcing from them.

"That doesn't look-" What sounded like an actual thunderclap crashed through the air. Malganon had opened its mouth to unleash a bolt of red electricity before it, that slowly rose towards the village.

"EVERYONE MOVE!" Citrine shouted. Garnet instinctively grabbed Steven and dove to the side. Neither of them saw much of what happened around them, but what they did know was the red lightning attack ripped right through ray field wall and erupted a cloud of sand over everything.

Steven's ears were ringing. He couldn't hear anything, even as he opened his eyes. He could feel Garnet's arms still around him, and she was on the ground with him. He looked over his shoulder: a smoking trail was blazed not two feet from where they once stood, carving straight through the village and decimating two opposing ray field walls. Not too many of the natives's buildings were in the pathway, but some were unfortunately blasted.

"...-ven? ...Steven?" Slowly but surely, his hearing came back to him.

"Garnet? Yeah, I can hear you," Steven rubbed one of his ears, "Ugh, that was really loud..."

"Thank goodness," Garnet raised both of them to their feet. Close by, they saw Citrine pull herself up and shake loose sand from her body.

"Bloodstone! Up!" Druzy could be heard pulling the larger gem to her feet.

"Druzy, Bloodstone! Are you two alright?!" Morganite rushed to their sides, to which both tentatively nodded. Morganite gazed upon the line that had literally blazed the ground before them, "That thing, it really did this... and breached the defense!" She pointed to the wall between their village and Malganon, or at least where it once was. A section of the wall was now missing, and was now essentially a massive entryway, "It just cleaved a pathway straight through the village! We have to make sure it comes no further!" Bloodstone grunted and motioned a hand to follow them as they made for the breach.

"By all the stars... Who is still here? Steven, Garnet... Jasper...?-" Citrine said, then stopped when she realized something, "Where is she...?" Steven and Garnet snapped at attention; the orange gem was not there with them.

"Oh no..." Steven's eyes darted all around the sand, "Don't tell that she..."

"I don't remember seeing her before the blast," Garnet admitted. Steven was now on his hands and knees combing the sand frantically, "Steven, we were lucky enough to survive that; if Jasper's not here with us by now..."

"Don't say that!" Steven protested, as his hands moved, "Maybe she's only..." His eyes suddenly caught sight of a familiar orange shape, "There!" His hand shot out to secure the gem in his fingers. "Jasper? Hey, are you in there?"

"You found her?" Garnet moved closer to Steven.

"Yeah... she must have been dispelled by that lightning, but... But her gem's got a whole bunch of scratches on it..." He rubbed his thumb across its surface, wincing with every surface scratch.

"Did that really happen? Was Jasper struck by that lightning blast?" Citrine pointed to the gem that Steven held.

"I think so..." Steven surmised, "Man, this is rough, but at least her gem's not completely shattered, so I'll just keep her safe in my pocket!" He slipped the gemstone into his left side pocket, then looked at Citrine, "So Citrine, Garnet, what should we do now?" A thoughtful look graced Citrine's face until she shook her head.

"For now? That gem and her comrades at the very least had a suitable defense between us and Malganon, so it would be in everyone's best interest if if were working again."

"Yeah, and keep ourselves and the natives safe?" Steven said, "Let's do it!" Garnet nodded her head in agreement. With that they made her way across the sand towards where Morganite, Bloodstone and Druzy had gone, while Steven and Garnet moved with slower strides than Citrine until they were side by side. Garnet caught something out of the corner of her eye.

"What is it, Steven? I recognize that look: you have something else on your mind. " Steven looked at Garnet as he moved.

"I'm just... confused is all," he said as his hand brushed against his pocket, "I'm keeping Jasper's gem safe and all, but... I can't forget all the mean stuff she's done to us!"

"Steven, it's alright to have such thoughts, but..." Garnet spoke, "It is still the right thing to do, no matter what we think about it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Steven admitted. A screech in the distance drew their attention once again to Malganon. The monster appeared to be preoccupied with raising even more towers of stark white crystals straight from the ground, "But that thing on the other hand is... How do we stop something like that?!"

"That... I really don't know..." Garnet admitted, "But... we'll find a way to stop it; that's what we do, right?" Steven's star-eyes perked up.

"Yeah, we will figure something out!" They passed more village buildings that were thankfully untouched, and it was there that they saw Morganite was moving around trying to pacify some distressed natives.

"Move everyone to the safety of underground; they are your charges now, so they must be protected," she said. The native she spoke to clicked with a nervous and anxious tone, "No, it's far too dangerous. I won't risk the safety of the people for something... something that's beyond any of us... All that matters is that you stay safe." The native ducked its head and let out a sad sound, to which Morganite placed a comforting hand on its shoulder, "Hey, be strong, we knew something like this would happen eventually..." The native nodded its head and left for the thick of the village.

"Morganite!" Steven called out. The pink gem turned around to face the two.

"Oh, you two," she said, "Follow me to the breach."

"Right, and what exactly is our plan, thus far?" Garnet asked as they rushed for the breach.

"First I'll assess the damage done to that one particular ray-field generator," Morganite said, "If the damage is not so extensive, then I may be able to repair it."

"Hey so, have your people gone somewhere safe?" Steven spoke up, "I can see that they're really important to you." Morganite looked at him.

"Your concern is... appreciative," she said, "Yes, they've retreated to hideouts where that monster couldn't hope to reach. For many years our greatest weapon has been our secrecy, from all manner of external calamities. Yet at the same time, we must always be ready for the unexpected. It's something that we've taught these people, Felucians, for countless years."

"Oh! Is that what they're called? 'Felucians'?" Steven said, "Okay, I like that..." By now everyone came to a stop just at where the breach was to find Bloodstone, Druzy, and Citrine already there. They stood around a circular metallic device about five feet in diameter, with a sparking antennae at its apex. Steven and Garnet could see along the ray field line that there were others just like it, but theirs had a line of energy projecting up and connecting the field to one another.

"Why doesn't that Bloodstone actually speak?" Citrine could be heard probing, "It would certainly make communication between others much easier to-"

"Bloodstone no speak!" Druzy interrupted, "But Druzy understand! All that matter!" Bloodstone grunted in agreement.

"Move, clear the way! Let me see..." Morganite rushed past the gems, only to find the generator lay disabled and crackling with red lightning residue. Dismayed, she looked back at everyone, "By all the stars... this entire generator has been overloaded by the lightning!" Bloodstone made a sort of grunting noise to her, drawing a confused look from Steven.

"Um, I'm sorry, I don't really understand that language either..." he said.

"I... I don't know," Morganite answered what apparently Bloodstone had asked, "Let me think here..."

"We don't have much time!" Citrine said, "Can't you just shoot out more ray fields with that little weapon of yours?" Her remark earned her a quick glare from Morganite.

"I've spent years constructing these generators with what few resources were available, all to reach an ideal efficiency as the one next to it," she said, "Something of this caliber cannot simply be duplicated with a mobile ray-field projector."

It was then that Malganon reminded everyone of its presence with another roar. Thankfully, the giant monster didn't appear to be shooting another beam of lightning at them again, but rather remained focused on raising smaller crystal towers from the ground before it. As opposed to the ones behind it, these smaller crystals began glowing a white glow from within. Every tower grown earned a growl from Druzy and Bloodstone.

"Morgie... we must stop big monster! Cast it out!" the small blue gem exclaimed, and Bloodstone grunted in agreement.

"Really?" Citrine remarked, "I hope your attack plan involves more than just primitive rock weapons-"

"Everyone... heads up," Garnet spoke up, drawing the three's attention.

"What is it, Garnet?" Steven asked.

"Look up there," Garnet pointed off the corner of where Malganon's shoulder crystal, "I see something... moving..." This time, Morganite interest was perked as she looked up.

"What sort of something?" she asked, "And is it something of this creature's doing?" Garnet squinted her eyes as she focused. The object steadily grew larger and larger against the sky.

"I don't think it to be... It looks more like..." Her eyes narrowed, "A ship?"


	23. It's been a while

"A ship?" Citrine repeated, "Could it be Peridot in our shuttle?"

"I don't think it is," Garnet said.

"And why not?"

"Because we both left Peridot and approached this village from that direction," she pointed behind her, "Yet this one is coming from Malganon..."

"So... this is something sent by 'it'?" Morganite asked.

"It might be..." Garnet said. Morganite looked back at the generator she was feverishly trying to restore.

"Blast it, and our village is open and vulnerable!" she said.

"Is there anything we can do to fix it?" Steven offered.

"There's no time! It has already arrived!" Citrine pointed out. It was true, the ship was now close enough to see in detail. However, instead of bearing straight down upon them, everyone was mildly confused when the ship continued to gracefully fly, and landed on the outside of the ray-field's perimeter. The ship was a Crystarra fighter, as Steven exchanged looks with everyone else.

"Um..." he struggled for words.

"We should still expect the worst," Garnet said, summoning her gauntlets.

"For once, I agree," Citrine said, starting towards the touched down ship, "You all just stay here, we'll check this out." There was no word of protest from the three planets' gems. With that, Steven, Garnet and Citrine as they slowly approached the ship.

"Does Malganon suddenly have space fighter ships under its control as well?" Steven asked to no one in particular. Slowly but surely, the cockpit snapped open with a hiss, putting everyone on alert. It peeled itself open fully, and a figure actually leaped out and into the air, landing perfectly on one knee. Its back was to them, but the figure possessed four arms, yellow skin, with hair pulled back into two very distinct tendrils.

"No way..." Steven said, "Spodumene?!" The fusion-born had said something to herself, or as she was looking at something in her lower hands, when Steven's voice caught her attention. Instantly, her eyes widened as well.

"Steven!" she exclaimed, "A-and Garnet?! You're here?" The three rushed to close the gap between each other, leaving Citrine to approach much more casually pace.

"I-I don't believe this!" Spodumene said, "Why are you here, and how?"

"We could very well ask you that same question," Garnet said.

"It's good to see you again!" Steven said, "But wait, what about..." As Steven trailed off, Spodumene suddenly looked down and opened her lower hands. They watched as two glowing gems, a pearl and an amethyst, hovered in mid air on each side of her. Light coalesced around each one until they each took humanoid forms. Soon, Pearl and Amethyst were standing before them again.

"See Pearl, I told you it'd-" Amethyst abruptly cut herself off as she looked forward, "Wha- Steven! Garnet!"

"Pearl, and Amethyst! You guys are alright!" Steven launched himself into Amethyst and Pearl's waiting arms, "I was so worried, for both of you!"

"Steven, how I've missed your goofball self!" Amethyst barely could hold her tears back.

"Steven, Garnet, Amethyst..." Pearl didn't even bother to hold her tears back, "I'm so... so..."

"Nice to have the Crystal Gems reunited," Garnet patted Pearl on the shoulder once. With that, they stepped apart to allow each other some space.

"Spodumene, and the other set of Earth's gems..." Everyone turned around to see Citrine standing there arms crossed.

"Um, we were having a moment here, so...?" Amethyst mumbled.

"Citrine? Why are you here?" Spodumene asked.

"She led us on a mission here, actually hoping to head you off!" Steven spoke up, "You see, we found out that Malganon there was planning to come here..." He pointed in the monster's direction. This time, Pearl and Amethyst let out gasps of surprise.

"Whoa, so you weren't kidding, Pearl," Amethyst said, "We were walking on the back of that thing?!"

"I find all that a little hard to believe..." Spodumene said, then indicated with her hands to the pink ray field they stood next to, "But this definitely has my attention..."

"Is this a ray-field?" Pearl asked, "Why is there one here on such a primitive planet?"

"Yeah, but there's actually been a problem," Steven said, "Malganon there blasted a hole straight through it! Come with us, Morganite can tell you more." At the mention of the name, Spodumene visibly tensed.

"Did... Did you say... Morganite...?" she asked.

"Um, yeah?" Steven said.

"What is it, Spodumene?" Garnet asked. The yellow fusion shook her head with narrowed eyes.

"Just... lead the way, Steven." Steven shrugged as he led the now larger group alongside the ray field towards the breach. Bloodstone and Druzy were standing in place guarding Morganite, when they turned and noticed them coming.

"You back, no more- Hey!" Druzy pointed out to the gems Steven brought in tow, "Who you?! Invaders! Morgie, more come!" Pearl made a face from the sight of the two gems alone.

"Is that a gem?" she asked, "Why is she on the back of... another gem?"

"After all the crazy I've seen today, that's probably the tamest..." Amethyst said, subtly smirking at the display.

"Yeah, these gems are the guardians of this planet, and its people!" Steven said, "The big one there is Bloodstone, on her back is Druzy, and over there is-"

"Morganite." Spodumene spoke evenly, yet the gem in question was still nearly startled from how exactly she spoke it.

"... Spodumene?" she said. She slowly rose from her knelt position next to the generator. For moments, short but strangely tense moments, it was almost as if Malganon's presence many miles away was forgotten. Hard eyes met hard eyes as the two stared at each other.

"So... this is where you..." Spodumene spoke up.

"Yes," the pink gem replied.

"Um, do you two know each other?" Steven pointed between the two.

"You could say that... many years ago-" Malganon's distant roar drew everyone's attention again. Everyone watched as it raised its clawed hands up at its sides, the crystal towers right before it began to glow a bright purple. Then there was movement, right at the base of them. From the distance, Garnet squinted her eyes behind her visor to focus.

"We... we have incoming," she said, "Something's coming, from the base of those crystals..."

"What sort of 'something'?" Steven asked. Garnet looked closer as whatever they were drew closer.

"Gems... maybe even the Dark Plasma drones we encountered on Crystarra," she said.

"Then it's really happening..." Morganite said, then looked at Spodumene, "Listen Spodumene, my only present concern is the safety and well being of this world and its inhabitants. I assume I can count on you to at least be reasonable here?" Spodumene opened her mouth, but then held her tongue.

"... For now," she conceded.

"Thank you," Morganite said, "Now then, our best chance is to repair this ray field generator to at least keep these 'drones' at bay."

"I could assist in that regard, if you would allow," Spodumene spoke up.

"Very well," Morganite turned to her gem duo, "Bloodstone and Druzy, and all you others, hold this line here; ensure nothing enters into this village."

"Morgie, who this... fusion?" Druzy pointed to Spodumene, "She know you?"

"Please, that need not concern you right now," Morganite interrupted. Druzy's lips pursed, but she relented.

"Um, what exactly are we doing?" Pearl asked, "Moreover, what planet is this, even?! W-What is going on right now?!"

"Okay Pearl, I'll try and make this quick," Steven said, "Malganon just landed on this planet for some reason, and those gems there are this planet's protectors. We're here now because we were heading off Malganon to try and rescue you after we found out it was coming here and-" He stopped abruptly when suddenly forgot about needing to take a breath.

"Whoa Steven! Slow down..." Amethyst patted a hand on his back, "Try and remember to breathe, or can you still with that thing over your head?"

"That is... a somewhat accurate summation of our mission," Citrine found herself saying.

"But, this is..." Pearl said to herself, "Why are we really here?"

"This generator is completely inoperable!" Spodumene said, "What parts aren't overloaded have been corroded by electricity!"

"I've gathered that, Spodumene," Morganite said, "But I still have to try and repair it, maybe there's a..." Spodumene paused for a moment, as if she just recalled something.

"Wait a moment, Citrine?" the four-armed gem council member said to the other, "Who was the tech gem that accompanied you on this excursion?"

"I chose Peridot, but she's still with the shuttle many miles out-" Citrine said.

"That's perfect!" Spodumene raised her limb enhancer up and with her two left hands let her fingers fly across its upper display. Morganite watched her work with wonder in her eyes.

"Amazing! What is that?" she asked.

"Personal limb enhancer," Spodumene quickly answered, "Which I hope I can find..." Her device gave off a small chime, "Yes! Peridot, do you copy? This is Spodumene, do you read?"

 _"Wha-? Spodumene?"_ Peridot's nasal voice sounded, " _How did you- Where are you contacting me?"_

"I am contacting on planet, that I presume you are also on...? Anyway, you're presence is requested at my location immediately! I will activate my limb enhancer's beacon for you..." Her fingers tapped the display a couple more times.

 _"And... Ah! Coordinates received!"_ the olive gem said, _"Stand by, I should arrive to you in the shuttle momentarily..."_

"Excellent," Spodumene lowered her arms, "Don't worry, I know Peridot has just what we need for this..."

"Peridot?" Amethyst said, "Isn't that the cyborg-lookin' gem with the light-blades?"

"She's not a cyborg, but she does utilize engineering tools that we're in need of," Spodumene said.

"Here they come!" Garnet pointed. Within the thick of the forest, humanoid figures could be seen. They lumbered forward, almost aimlessly, yet with gazes constantly fixed forward. As they stepped from within shadows, their skin tones could be seen as various colors, except for the eyes, which were all the same dark purple.

"Oh boy, those drone-gems again?" Amethyst said, summoning her whip, "Well, I'm ready this time..." However, Bloodstone held a flat palm between her and gave a grunt, "Um, what?"

"Purple gem, watch..." Druzy pointed out. Everyone watched and suddenly, something began to rain down upon the unsuspecting drones. Looking into the towering mushrooms, a flurry of thick nets suddenly fell down upon the mass! Nearly every drone was captured by a net and was reduced to pitifully struggling to free itself.

"So your primitive defenses are holding against even them?" Citrine said, "That's... almost impressive... Still not as effective as an actual Crystarra defense..." As she said that, however, a small number of the drones' gems flashed and produced their weapons. Various sharped tools were more than enough to cut through the net's material. Slowly, and one at a time, they burst through the newly-cut holes.

"Well I hope this defense we have here is effective..." Pearl said. By now, the drones were breaking through the forest edge and straight for the village. Having broken through the forest line, everyone could see clearly just how lifeless the expressions on their faces really were, "They're not stopping, they're still coming..." Pearl said, "This is absolutely insane!"

"Um, this is making me kinda nervous too," Amethyst said, "So... what do we do?"

"We must hold this line," Citrine took a defensive combat stance as she summoned her pair of sais, "At least to buy that gem the time needed to fix that ray field generator."

"Wha-, seriously?" Amethyst countered, "And we're supposed to defend a hole in a ray field until then?!"

"Morgie our friend..." Druzy spoke, but not directly in response to Amethyst, "Bloodstone and Druzy always fight for Morgie!" Bloodstone grunted in agreement, and Amethyst merely blinked at the display of sentiment. She spared quick glances at Pearl, Garnet, and Steven, and her worries began to dissipate that much quicker.

"Oh no..." Garnet's low voice cut in, "Everyone..." She pointed out past the skirmish at Malganon. It's head was lowered slightly, but the two massive shoulder crystals began to glow again. They then sparked with red lightning as it raised its head up again, red eyes meeting the ground below.

"It's going to fire that... lightning at us again!" Steven said, "What are we going to do?!" His answer came as a booming from the sky.


	24. Here comes the cavalry

"Dropping out of light-speed... now." The rush of flowing colors through the massive view-port stopped instantly. Now, the image of a very rich teal planetoid met Ruby Prime's eyes.

"So is that it?" she said.

"It is, General," the gem pilot Apatite confirmed, "But I find it highly irregular. We are in sector 33-Y7 of the galaxy, and there shouldn't even be a planet here at all."

"And why do you think that?"

"Well, to my knowledge," Apatite explained, "A star in this sector had reached the end of its life cycle and went supernova. The shock-wave should've obliterated everything... planets included." Ruby Prime stared back out at the planet before them. She suddenly could feel the faint vibrations of other capital ships exiting light-speed right behind them.

"Obliterated everything?" she said, "So how does one planet end up being spared?"

"That's what I wonder, General," Apatite mused, "We're clearing the external atmosphere now... What the-?" The landscape below became clear every passing minute. Everything was a rich shade of blue, save for two things: two circular halves of something pink, and a creature of dark skin and contrasting white crystals. Ruby Prime and Apatite's eyes widened as they gazed upon this creature from their new perspective.

"By Geode..." Ruby Prime breathed, "It... it's Malganon! And it's just standing there, in place!" Malganon was indeed standing in place. All around its immediate area were a number of crystal towers that somehow jutted out of the ground, an unnatural contrast to the organic foliage that surrounded it. Tall crystal towers grew in back of it and on both its sides, while in front of it were much smaller crystals that were glowing.

"What is it doing? And what's that pink... thing, down there?"

"I don't rightly know... but we should capitalize! Patch me through to the other ships!" Apatite obeyed then signaled to Ruby Prime, "Attention ships! Commence bombardment upon that monster!"

"Understood General, priming energy cannons..." Apatite said as a hum from the ship itself could be heard. By now the two massive crystals on Malganon's shoulders began to glow bright red, and it appeared to be completely unaware of what their own attack. The ship's hum intensified until it culminated with energy blasts raining down, followed immediately by many more from the other ships. Ruby Prime and Apatite watched as the blasts quickly found their mark.

For a moment, the monster itself lurched in place, and the two shoulder crystals stopped glowing.

"Contact, the impact was successful," Apatite said.

"Excellent!" Ruby Prime announced, "Now keep up the assault-"

"Wait, General... I'm picking up a comm transmission... from on planet," Apatite slowly looked at her. Ruby Prime returned her look.

"Establish link," she said, "Who down there could be contacting us...?" Apatite opened a separate holo-screen for their communications, and a voice could soon be heard.

 _"-ystarra Fleet do you copy? This is Spodumene, respond!"_ They both looked at each other with widened eyes, and Apatite scrambled to clean the link of static.

"Spodumene?" Apatite announced, "This is Apatite, pilot of the lead warship-"

"Spodumene? Ruby Prime here, we hear you!" Ruby Prime interrupted, "Do you hear us?"

 _"Apatite? And Ruby Prime?"_ the familiar voice said, _"Thank you! Your timing was most fortuitous! Malganon was about to blast at us until you disrupted it!"_

"Wait, are you down there right now?" Ruby Prime asked, "What's going on?"

 _"That is correct, General!"_ Spodumene said, _"Myself, the Earth gems, Citrine's scout team, we're all present here next to this massive ray field!"_ Apatite quickly glanced back up at the pink object below.

"That's a ray field?" she said, "How is that possible...?"

 _"But we're still about to be under siege!"_ Spodumene continued, _"Just a few minutes ago, Malganon must have sent some sort of foot-soldiers to attack us; gems tainted by dark plasma!"_

"Dark plasma...? Gem drones!" Ruby Prime realized, "Stand by, Spodumene, help is on the way!" She looked at Apatite, "You and all other capital ships concentrate fire on Malganon, and do not let up! Dispatch the fighters if you have to!"

"Erm, yes General, but-" Apatite started, but the sight of Ruby Prime quickly moving to exit the room stopped her, "Wait, where are you going?"

"Where do you think? I'm heading down there!" The door opened and closed before Ruby Prime could even hear what the pilot was saying. She was then greeted by the sight of many other gem warriors, who regarded her anxiously, "Alright, all capable gem warriors: get to the transport ships, we're heading down there to help them out! "

"What? But that's insane!" the short, red general could hear someone's voice call out, "How can we possibly destroy that thing?!"

"Just stick with me and follow my orders!" Ruby Prime blindly answered as everyone moved for the hangar. There were a number of Crystarra fighter ships which some gems quickly took their seat in, while the majority of warriors entered the massive transport ship, herself included. The hangar doors opened, and the ships prepared to take off.

* * *

"Steven, Garnet, everyone! Ruby Prime has arrived with the Crystarra Fleet!" Spodumene exclaimed. The group was already heavily relieved when Malganon failed to blast them with another lightning blast, so this good news only added to it. The ships in the sky were now raining down blast after blast of energy projectiles upon the monster, thus earning them its full attention.

"I never thought I would actually be happy to hear something like that!" Pearl said.

"Yeah, now they can blow that thing all the way... or not, what?" Amethyst watched as the projectiles did seemingly make contact with Malganon. However, while the monster did recoil as it should have, something appeared right at the point of impact; a very thin layer of light that was approximately as big as the point of impact, "Um, why is it not being blown up?!"

"Those blasts are hitting something else..." Garnet noted, then brought her gaze back down, "Wait, we all need to focus on down here..." Her pointing straight forward reminded the group of the horde of corrupted gem drones still inbound. The Felucians had rushed forward earlier and were doing all they could do to delay them, from jumping onto them to knock them down to lightly engaging them with their crude weapons. The drones however seemed to barely even acknowledge them and brushed them aside as they were able.

Bloodstone and Druzy on the other hand were far more physical in keeping the invaders at bay. The brutish Bloodstone would swipe at whatever foes were within arm's reach, Druzy would slash at them with her dagger with expert agility. There were even times when the two would work together to take down a single large gem, or multiple smaller ones at once.

"We need only keep them from getting too close to here," Morganite said, "Spodumene, how much longer until that gem, Peridot gets here?"

"She should be..." Spodumene looked up around the sky, "Wait, someone's coming now!" She pointed in the opposite direction of Malganon and the dueling capital ships to a lone shuttle approaching. As it flew, a voice could be heard from Spodumene's limb enhancer.

 _"This is Peridot, I am inbound to touchdown at a specified drop-zone?"_

"Tell her..." Morganite spoke up for Spodumene, "Tell her to set down... within the ray-field perimeter."

 _"Destination acknowledged,"_ Peridot's voice could be heard, even before Spodumene could say anything. The shuttle dipped in low, staying clear of the height of the ray field, then gently touched down on the ground. With a hiss, the exterior door opened, and Peridot cautiously exited the spacecraft.

"Now then, I will not be attacked by these... primitive natives, will I...?" she asked herself as she looked all around her, until her gaze stopped upon Malganon, "By Geode, that monster Malganon is here?!"

"Peridot, over here!" Citrine called out, "We need a set of your probes to repair this generator!" Peridot quickly made her way over to Spodumene and Morganite around the generator.

"Fascinating... I've never seen such an old model of ray field generators... But it is inoperable, due largely in part to overload and traces of corrosion residue? That will be no problem." As she spoke as the fingers over one of her limb enhancers retracted back into the arm's base. She then pointed straight at the ground and fired four times, quickly producing four individual probes. Instinctively, they sought out the inoperable generator before them.

"Little probes?" Morganite asked, "And how exactly can they repair the extensive damage?" As she spoke, the probes began spraying their repairing liquid at every side of the generator, filling every damaging crack within reach. The three gems watched as slowly but surely the generator's scars faded until they were no more; it now matched the pristine care as its neighbors. Morganite forced herself to hold her mouth shut as she inspected closer. "Incredible... But, how... how did they-?"

"My probes come equipped with nano-infused solutions," Peridot explained, "The best of equipment for us engineers."

"And now that it's repaired, we can see it activated," Spodumene said.

"Yes, of course..." Morganite opened a panel on one side and slid her fingers along a specific pattern. Almost instantly, the generator hummed with the power of new life, "Exemplary! Permit me to extend my thanks to you, Peridot."

"It was hardly any trouble," Peridot nodded, "But the far more important question is can it stand against 'that'?" She pointed this time out to the forest line, where the gem drones were still advancing.

"Everyone, fall back within the ray field perimeter!" Morganite called out. Steven and his gems quickly rushed within, followed by the Felucians, then Bloodstone with Druzy atop. By now, the drones were mere feet away from their location and moving fast. The thunder of the sheer number of their footsteps rumbled throughout the ground.

"Now! Activate!" Spodumene urged. The pink gem jumped back to her feet, held her two handed caster in both hands and pressed a side button again. The generator powered flawlessly this time, and the breach was sealed, filling once more with a ray field wall. Everyone within stood back and watched anxiously, though Peridot had a look of wonder as well.

"Incredible!" she said, "I had no idea ray fields could expand such heights!" Mere seconds after activation, the drones were upon them. Upon initial contact with the field. multiple zap sounds were heard from every gem that made the slightest touch. Bodies were thrown about haphazardly, and weapons that were once held in hand were lost and dropped to the ground. Yet the entire time, every drone was strangely silent, not uttering a single word nor even grunts of effort.

The group inside the field slowly took steps away from it as the drones continued their vain assault.

"They're just... throwing themselves at the field?" Steven asked aloud, "Don't they know if it hurts them?"

"I honestly don't think they care, I mean they sure didn't back on- huh?" Amethyst said, until she stopped suddenly. She felt she had stepped in something, and looking down she saw that her foot had briefly stepped in the edge of the body of water that reached out towards the mainland. With a frown, she shook her foot of the water and stepped away from it, feeling strangely content as she did so.

Bloodstone made a series of grunting noises, and Druzy perked her head as if listening to her, "No Bloodstone; bad gems, they stay out there, keep them out. Right Morgie?" she turned her pink partner.

"If they are in fact still gems, then there is no way for them to penetrate a gem ray field," Morganite announced, "It seems for the time being, we have sufficiently delayed them..." She let her gaze drift from the mindless gem drones hurling themselves at the field to Malganon whose attention was now turned completely to the Crystarra ships hovering above it in the sky. They fired down upon the giant monster with energy blasts nonstop, and Malganon's transparent shield prevented any and all from doing any noticeable damage. The giant monster on the other hand raised its clawed hands up before it, and long, sharp-pointed crystals rose from the ground on its command to fire straight up at the ships. They did their best to steer out of the projectile's path, but a few managed to get a few scratches into them.

 _"Spodumene, Spodumene do you read?"_ the familiar voice of Ruby Prime could be heard from the fusion-born's limb enhancer, and she held it up again, _"Ruby Prime here, we're coming in to land now, I assume within that ray-field?"_

"Is that the general?" Peridot asked. Looking up, everyone watched as a single smaller ship grew larger as it flew towards them rather than fight Malganon. Steven and his gems quickly recognized it as a carrier ship that had visited Beach City not long ago.

"Ruby Prime? She's coming to help us?" Steven asked, "Morganite, she can land here, right? She could help us!" The pink gem looked at the boy, then back at Spodumene, and finally gave a small nod.

"You are clear, Ruby Prime," Spodumene spoke, "Set down upon the beach area." The ship soared nimbly through the air above the reaches of the ray-field. It touched down upon the beach, well away from the water, and everyone rushed over to it. Within moments, the entire craft unfolded itself, revealing its occupants: Ruby Prime, and a multitude of gems of different colors. The short red gem was the first to step off the ship by the time the others arrived at the transport.

"Hey, it's you again! Ruby Prime!" Amethyst said, "So you were poofed but came back! I guess in a way I know how that feels, huh?"

"Amethyst? Gems from Earth?" Ruby Prime looked upon the rest of Steven's Crystal Gems, "The Galactic Gem Society owes you all a strong debt of gratitude! Let me be the first to... huh?" her gaze drifted then narrowed as Ruby Prime suddenly noticed Bloodstone, Druzy and Morganite. The three in question grew more tense, even as the other gems had stepped off and spread out into the wide beach, "Um... who exactly are they?"

"Oh yeah, they're the..." Steven spoke softly as the realization set in, "W-wait, let me explain..."


	25. Humble be Diamond

"Diamond? Mistress Diamond? Please, you need to tell us more."

The surrounding ray field briefly deactivated to allow three of Chrysoprase's gem healer subordinates to leave. Chrysoprase had their healing applied nonstop, but simply by the sounds of Blue Diamond's growing discomfort, hardly any progress was being made.

"Please, stop!" Blue Diamond continued to protest, "No more! It hurts to... think, to... all over!" She had assumed her now normal position in the center of the cell, on both knees and clutching her head in both hands. The other three gem healers, a trio of identical blue gems, watched on in complete disbelief to see their once-sovereign reduced to a trembling mess.

"This is starting to seriously frustrate even me..." Chrysoprase crossed her arms, agitation in her voice was thick, "We have applied the healing arts many times in different quantities, yet the taint in Blue Diamond still persists!" She looked at Emerald, "You ask for the impossible, Emerald: there is no 'curing' a gem tainted by Dark Plasma, and Mistress Diamond here is simply no exception!"

"Chrysoprase..." Emerald said, though the futility still crept into her voice, "You're not truly suggesting that this is all hopeless?"

"Emerald, please, even you should recognize a hopeless cause when you see it..."

"Is that really what you would describe Diamond? Of all gems?" Emerald's outstretched hand indicated to the still cowering blue gem, who by now had lowered her hands from her ears just a little. Chrysoprase paused for a moment then sighed.

"I am not denying that Diamond was the most... special of all us gems," she said, "But... we simply need to face facts here, both past and present: 'we' are now the Galactic Gem Society, the new government in place of the Diamond Authority. Why?" She herself pointed to Blue Diamond, "Because it was assumed that she had fallen in battle!"

"Until that was discovered to be a falsehood, correct?" Emerald cut in.

"Be that as it may, in its place we find that she has in fact committed a criminal act to our planet's energy fonts that nearly costed us our very way of living! Even if she were to somehow be cured of her taint of dark plasma, what do think would be next for her? You think we'd let this go unpunished? Do you think she'd even be fit to return to her role of gem leader?" Emerald's words slowly died in her throat with each point the gem healer made.

"We are the council," she said, "Surely we can find it in ourselves for pardon..." Their eyes met, exchanging looks of differing sympathy. Chrysoprase lightly shook her head as she turned away.

"Sapphires, let us leave, there are more pressing cases at the infirmaries..." She slowly but firmly departed from the holding room, the three sapphires following behind her. Emerald made no sign to move herself, her mind pondering over the brutal truth of words that Chrysoprase had told her.

"She's... not wrong... you know..." a voice behind her spoke. Emerald snapped her head around suddenly to Diamond, still on her knees in the center of the cell but arms limp at her sides.

"Diamond?"

"What Chrysoprase said... it's not... wrong..." The blue gem stared back at her, eyes still holding pain, but with a little more restraint this time. Emerald opened her mouth to reply, until a passive glance reminded her that the two Holly Blue Agate guards were still present.

"Guards... leave me for a moment," she said after thought. The two exchanged a look between each other, but nonetheless did as Emerald ordered and exited the holding room, "Diamond... Mistress Diamond, surely you don't think that? It might just be the dark plasma clouding your judgement-"

"No Emerald," Diamond interrupted, "It's precisely dark plasma... that I now see much clearly... You cannot possibly imagine... the pain!" Her eyes winced and her body shivered and trembled at the mention.

"Diamond..." Emerald suddenly found herself asking, "What exactly has happened to you?"

"Power..." Diamond struggled to answer, "That's what dark plasma... initially promised... while others were weak to it... I alone endured..." Her eyes, once filled with pain, now began to show wonder, "But only now do I see... nothing this... powerful... comes without cost..." She rubbed her hands over her arms as if shivering, "Master... White and Yellow Diamonds, and myself... We were... pain-conditioned...to- Oh by Geode, the PAIN!" Blue Diamond suddenly screamed, causing Emerald to jump back in surprise. Diamond's hands moved back to clutching her head as she bent forward again.

"D-Diamond! Mistress Diamond!" Emerald held her hands up, "A-Are you alright?!"

"It calls to me!" Diamond spoke through gritted teeth, "Even now, I feel it calling to me... so much pain...!" Emerald thought to herself frantically; she had to calm the blue gem down somehow, but what could she say...?

"Mistress Diamond! Listen to me!" she ordered softly but firmly, "If there's any chance at all for you... you have to tell me: how can Malganon be stopped? Can it be destroyed? What can we do?" She watched as Blue Diamond appeared to force her twitching eyes and head to be still long enough to look back at her.

"The Mast-... Malganon... is all-powerful..." she said, "Existed since time unrecorded... Seeks to extend its reach... have all... bear its mark!" Her voice was clearly breaking with every word.

"Its mark, as in corrupt?" Emerald said, "Diamond! Malganon just seeks to corrupt all?"

"What it can't corrupt... it seeks to eradicate!" Screams dominated most of her speech by now, and her thrashing became far more aggressive. She threw herself at the walls of the ray field again and again, hardly caring each time that she was zapped.

"This is enough; Agates! Blue Agates, get in here!" Instantly as she spoke the door opened, and the two blue guards rushed in, "Reapply the restraints! Quickly!" One of the guards quickly tapped on the nearby control pad, and within seconds Blue Diamond was properly immobilized via the restraints that shot out from the cell floor. Emerald took a deep sigh; Blue Diamond still fussed in agony, but at least she was no longer harming herself in the process.

"By all the stars..." she said, then spoke to the guards, "Keep vigil over her, and let me know if anything changes,."

"Yes Emerald," the other Blue Agate responded, "However just now, before we came to your call, we had received word to summon for you."

"Who summoned for me?"

"Chrysoprase did," the other Agate said, "She said to meet her in the main council chambers." Emerald's eyes narrowed, but she nodded and left the room all the same.

She walked with a quickened pace through the hallway. As she did, she glanced out of the surrounding windows; repairs of structures and facilities were making strong headway. Evident electrical burns and scoring had been cleared up by now and were not only being repaired, but retrofitted with lightning conductors as well. Whatever was necessary, to prevent a similar catastrophe from happening again at any point in the future. In spite of the hard feeling Emerald had just moments ago, just gazing out at her fellow gems hard at work was enough to fill her with... relief.

Finally, Emerald reached the council room and entered. Chrysoprase was standing on one side of the council's table when she looked up and noticed her.

"Chrysoprase," Emerald said as she approached the table, "I was told you summoned for me?"

"Yes Emerald, that I did..."

"Perhaps you've reconsidered helping Blue Diamond? I managed to extract information from her that-"

"Emerald," Chrysoprase cut her off simply. She pointed to the center of their council chamber, where a single blue light was flashing. Upon seeing it, Emerald looked back up at her partner.

"The long distance Council summons?" she asked, "But that could only mean..."

"Yes, so let's not waste any more time!" Chrysoprase quickly moved herself so she stood completely at face with one side of the pentagon-shaped table, Emerald quickly doing the same. At once, the placed the flat of their palms against their ends of the table, gems on their bodies glowing as well. Instantly, holograms formed at the empty sections of the table, holograms of familiar faces.

"General Ruby Prime, and... Citrine? Spodumene?" Emerald said.

* * *

"Yes, an explanation would definitely be wise right now..." Ruby Prime said. Upon noticing Morganite and her gem partners, she took a more apprehensive stance, the warrior gems behind her slowly doing the same.

"Whoa, wait a minute..." Steven slowly moved between his group and Ruby Prime's "It's not at all what you think!" At this point, some of the Felucians slowly made themselves present by emerging from within their dwellings. Their presence was noted by many of the warrior gems, Ruby Prime included.

"Really?" Ruby Prime asked incredulously, "Because what this appears to be is another case of discovering gem deserters!" By now Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl had rejoined Steven at his sides.

"Just a moment," Garnet said, "You don't know all the facts here."

"Okay, but..." Steven said, "You're not seriously about to do anything bad to them, right? I mean, neither they nor their people have done anything to you!" He suddenly remembered Citrine was there with him and turned to her, "Citrine! You're leading us, so you can tell her!"

"Ruby Prime..." Citrine hesitated, as if considering Steven's words, "Perhaps now is not the best time to take such action?"

"Um, sorry to interrupt here, but..." Amethyst cut in with a pointed finger to Malganon, "Did we suddenly forget about that?!" Everyone turned to the raging air skirmish of Crystarra ships hovering above the monster. Capital ships slowly hovered above, while tiny specks that were fighter ships zoomed all around and peppered Malganon with blaster fire. However, for every energy projectile fired upon it, there was that persistent shield that appeared everywhere that a blast would've been.

At the sight of this, Ruby Prime pinched the bridge of her nose with sigh.

"Very well... we'll deal with this right now!" she looked around at the warrior gems gathered around her, "Let's make sure those corrupted gems don't get any further than that ray-field; form a defensive line!" Slowly but surely, the gems marched out into a line just behind the ray-field and its generator. From their new angle Steven could now count at least twenty among them, all many different colors and various physical builds. Ruby Prime then looked away and placed a finger to her ear, "This is General Ruby Prime hailing the Crystarra fleet, what's your status? What's happening up there?!"

 _"General!"_ a voice said, _"We're concentrating firepower, but that thing has some kind of deflector shield! Our attacks are- By Geode-!"_ Ruby Prime snapped her head back over to Malganon. The giant monster's shoulder crystals glowed with red lightning and it turned its head to the sky. Then with the sound of a mighty thunderclap, powerful lightning blasted from its maw at the nearest capital ship. The electricity surged at the point of impact and snaked its way along the ship's body. For a moment, Ruby Prime held hope as the ship actually held itself against the blast, _"Stabilizer's failing! Maintain the- AAARRRRGGGHHH!"_ The sound of the gem's scream filled her ear as the ship was ultimately overcome. Lightning ripped through every part of the ship it touched until finally it could hold no longer.

The capital ship began to fall the surface, explosions across its body rocking it as it made the descent to its demise. Those on the ground watched with looks of horror on their faces.

 _"General?! Are you there?"_ Ruby Prime heard a different voice in her ear, _"We saw that from here! Warship number 4 was destroyed! What do we do?!"_

"They're being destroyed up there...!" Steven said, looking at Ruby Prime, "They've got to get out of there! If they don't, they'll be blown up!"

"If they leave, there'll be a risk of Malganon focusing back down here again!" Morganite countered.

"Um, I'm with Steven on this one," Amethyst chimed in, "No gem deserves 'that' to happen to them!"

"Enough already! I can't think..." Ruby Prime exclaimed. She concentrated really hard, until after much thought, "Fleet, continue to engage, but... maintain healthy distance and evasive maneuvers where ever possible. What's important is that you keep it distracted!"

 _"Um, y-yes General!"_

"And why isn't the dreadnought firing?! Get its guns operational now! It might have a chance against such a shield..." She dropped her hand from her ear, not bothering to register whatever was said next, "Listen, those gems up there? They knew exactly what they were getting into when they came here; they know the risks, so we have to make sure their sacrifices are not in vain!" Steven looked at her then sighed.

"It just doesn't feel right..." he said to himself yet aloud, "We're trying to save gems, so gems have to be... destroyed for that to happen?"

"Steven," the boy felt Garnet's hand on his shoulder, "It's a gritty reality that no one should have to experience... But no matter what happens, nothing will happen to the four of us." Steven looked back at Pearl and Amethyst with hope-filled eyes, and they in turn smiled back at him.

"Wait a minute, you brought the dreadnought here?" Spodumene spoke up, "I remember while I was still on Crystarra that its weapons were still not calibrated!"

"You are correct on that assessment, Spodumene," Peridot answered, "However, the gems assigned to that ship were hard at work and making steady progress regardless."

"Plus we needed every ship available for this!" Ruby Prime reminded, "And that dreadnought has cannons that could blast holes through the toughest minerals in this galaxy!"

"That remains to be seen," Morganite noted, "And should that fail, I assume you have some sort of secondary plan?"

"Hmmm..." Ruby Prime thought, "Citrine, Spodumene, maybe the three of us should relay this development to Emerald and Chrysoprase back on Crystarra!" The two gems in question looked at her as she raised a small object from her gold diamond-shaped pad from the front of her uniform. With one finger she tapped on its side, causing it to blink a blue light.

"You mean a councilor's quantum projection?" Citrine asked, "I... suppose we might as well." Spodumene nodded as well and the two of them moved so they stood around where Ruby Prime stood. They too removed small objects from the front of their uniforms and tapped their sides as she did. As one they placed them in their center atop the sand so they touched, then stepped back. A light blue hologram slowly took the familiar shape of a table, a five sided table with two hologram figures standing where the three of them did not.

 _"General Ruby Prime, and... Citrine? Spodumene?_ the hologram of Emerald spoke.

 _"So you're all present and accounted for,"_ Chrysoprase added.

"Okay, that's pretty cool!" Amethyst admitted as she and other watched.

"Both Spodumene and Ruby Prime have reunited with us upon sector 33-Y7's planet," Citrine said, "where the situation is... hectic, to say the least."

 _"Have you encountered Malganon?"_ Emerald asked.

"We have... along with what appears to be a legion of corrupted gems as well," Citrine said. Malganon's roar could be heard in the background, causing the two holograms to tense up.

 _"By Geode..."_ Emerald said, _"How can something like that be defeated?"_

"I think... I have cursory knowledge on it from my... close-range experience with it," Spodumene said, earning her the attention of everyone.

"What? And you never thought to tell us this before?!" Ruby Prime said.

"I haven't exactly had time to process anything, being how I just arrived here minutes ago!" Spodumene countered, "Anyway, while Pearl and myself were on the surface of... Malganon, I found myself in close proximity to one of its crystals; perhaps one of them located at its shoulder. As I was near, I could feel massive surges of power through my limb enhancer!" The hologram faces of Emerald and Chrysoprase showed interest.

 _"Surges of power?"_ Chrysoprase said.

"And what's more..." she suddenly turned around to face Amethyst behind her, "Amethyst, would you please?" The purple gem was caught off guard by the sudden gesture, and slowly approached Spodumene's side, "Amethyst, what exactly did you say you saw before Pearl and I found you?"

"Huh?" Amethyst's face looked back and forth between the other council members. Pearl, Garnet, and Steven slowly moved so they stood directly behind them as well, "Well... I saw Diamond was there, and she... she, used that giant crystal to... she's corrupting gems!" Everyone around her bore astonished reactions, while the holographic Emerald and Chrysoprase were more more tempered.

 _"Corrupting gems?"_ Emerald said, _"You mean she's directly responsible for the gem-drones?"_

 _"This is... well it's a bit surprising..."_ Chrysoprase agreed.

"Well then, if what you say is true, then the plan should be obvious," Citrine announced then glanced at Spodumene, "If you claim Malganon's 'shoulder crystals' to be its actual power source, we should focus our efforts on destroying them!" Amethyst sensed by now that she was no longer needed by the group and slipped away. She saw Steven and rejoined him at his side.

"Did you really see gems get corrupted? Turned into mindless gem-drones?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I saw it, Steven," she replied with a softer tone, "I saw it happen to a gem, and... I just, I felt like- I should've done something!"

"Hey, it's okay! I'm not blaming you for anything!" the boy reassured her with a pat on her shoulder. Amethyst smiled at the gesture.

"It's just... We can't let that thing live..." she looked at Malganon with determination, "We have to take it down!"

"We will, Amethyst... we will," Steven said.

"Yes, the four of us will... wait," Garnet suddenly looked to her side and groaned.

"What?" Steven asked, until he noticed someone wasn't present with them, "Oh, not again!"

"What? What's wrong?" Amethyst asked.

"Pearl's not with us again! She did this before..." Steven said.

"Which means she might be- wait, there!" Garnet pointed off to the side. Steven and Amethyst looked to see Pearl standing before the shuttle that Peridot had piloted to their location. However, she didn't appear to be moving with rushed speed as before, she appeared to be calm as she looked over the space-craft. Thus the three of them quickly walked over to her location.

"Pearl! Hey Pearl!" Steven called out.

"Yo, P! Whatcha doing?" Amethyst added. Pearl turned around and smiled to see the three of them approaching her.

"Oh good! You're all here now!" she said, "Now then, I believe my familiarity with a Crystarra fighter can carry over into piloting one of these larger shuttles..." Her casual speech drew confused looks from the other three.

"Um, Pearl? Why are you wanting to fly this ship?" Amethyst asked, earning her a look of genuine confusion from Pearl in return.

"Yeah Pearl, are you wanting to use this ship to help out the ones up there?" Steven pointed up at the sky.

"Use the ship to-? Why would you suggest that?" Pearl asked, "We're leaving here; I plan to fly us home right now!"


	26. Fight on Felucia pt1- Loyalties

Both Steven and Amethyst blinked.

"Um, come again?" Amethyst asked.

"W-What do you mean we're leaving?" Steven asked, "We can't just leave, not now!"

"Actually yes, we can Steven," Pearl simply replied, "We're leaving now, the four of us, now that we're back together!" She turned back around to look over the shuttle again, "Now, how exactly do I open the doors...?"

"We can't leave," Amethyst spoke. Steven and Garnet turned their heads at the purple gem; the way she spoke felt so... strained. Pearl on the other hand hadn't noticed while she continued to inspect.

"Yes we can..." she spoke absentmindedly, "If only I can find how to-" Her musing was cut short as she was violently pulled away by her hand. Everyone's eyes widened to find that Amethyst had gotten her attention by pulling her hand towards her. Pearl was now forced to look her dead in the face, with determined eyes that held pain within them.

"I said we can't leave, Pearl!" Moments seemed to pass between them as everyone was at a loss for words. Pearl seemed to realize her wrist was being gripped and pulled it away.

"Amethyst... Yes, we can leave!" she said, "Right here is a shuttle that can get us home, which I intend to use!"

"That is not what I mean!" Amethyst exclaimed, "I don't care that we 'can' leave; I'm saying we SHOULDN'T leave!" Pearl's eyes narrowed as the most genuine confusion washed over her face.

"Amethyst, what are you talking about? I risked everything to come for you!" Pearl continued, "That is all this little 'trip' has done so far: threaten to be the end of us! You were taken from m- from us, and I promised to find you again. And now that we're here and accounted for, we will leave NOW, hopefully while Malganon is distracted-"

"Pearl, STOP!" Amethyst shouted again, "You're asking to do something that I can't do; leave gems to the mercy of that monster!" she pointed to Malganon again for emphasis, "You didn't see what I saw, but I did see it: that thing will corrupt any gem it gets hold of!"

"Corrupt?" Pearl said, "Well then, all the more reason to leave here!"

"No, it's all the more reason to fight it!" Amethyst urged, "No gem deserves to have that happen to them, no matter where they're from or what they fight for!"

"Amethyst-!"

"Seriously Pearl!" Steven cut in, "Malganon is threatening everything, both gems and these Felucians' planet, and you're saying we should leave?!"

"That is exactly what I'm saying, Steven!" Pearl said, "This planet, it's their problem, and Malganon? That concerns the gems from Crystarra, not us!"

"Pearl please!" Steven stepped forward, "We can't just run away from this: too much is at stake here! Isn't this the kind of thing that Mom took a stand for?" Pearl's eyes widened at the mention of Rose.

"But-but, I..." she stammered, "This isn't like-"

"Isn't it?" Garnet spoke up, causing all to turn their heads, "Rose may have inspired an idea in her friends and followers: something to fight for..." she motioned a hand to Morganite, Bloodstone, and Druzy, "Who's to say what they've done is any different?" There was a great pause between them. Except for the distant sounds of Malganon's roars and ship's blaster-fire, they were silent as the words sank in. Pearl looked back and forth between their faces until she bowed her head so that her eyes were shadowed.

"You are right, Steven," she said, "Much is at stake." Both Steven and Amethyst's eyes lit up.

"Really? Then that means we'll all stay-"

"Much is at stake... to risk ourselves..." Pearl continued, causing Steven and Amethyst's spirits to drop, "You are right too, Garnet; Rose inspired the idea of fighting for what you love. Right now, you three are all that matter to me. I can't bear the thought of losing you, like I almost lost you Amethyst..." She spoke, but her forehead gem suddenly glowed. Steven nearly flinched as Pearl's spear materialized from her gem and fell straight into her open waiting hand, "That is why we are leaving now."

"This is just selfish!" Amethyst said, "We have to stay!"

"Pearl, this is plain insane!" Steven held his palms before her.

"I'm done arguing with you all!" Pearl cried out, "Let's go!"

"No!"

"FIRE!" The sound of another's voice broke their flow, while a different sound made them flinch. They turned around to see Ruby Prime pointing up straight in the direction of the dreadnought, while the ship's cannons appeared to have been drawing in energy. A crackling blast filled the air as the mighty cannons rained down energy blasts through the air. Each individual projectile itself was four times bigger in size than those the capital ships fired, and soared through the air at twice their speed.

And when they met Malganon's body, the giant monster actually was pushed a little from the impact, roaring in actual pain. The blasts each hit sections on its back, with the last one scoring a direct hit on one of the massive shoulder crystals. Instead of the shield protecting it again, the crystal was completely shattered, reduced to a jagged, skin-level nub of what it once was. Malganon reared itself up again, giving all a clear view of the evident damage done to it.

"Alright! Take that!" Amethyst couldn't resist the cheer that escaped her lips, and even the other warrior gems could be heard cheering as well.

"Nice work!" Ruby Prime said, "That's one crystal destroyed, now take out the other one!" Whoever was piloting the dreadnought must have complied, as the cannons slowly began to draw energy in again. Unfortunately, Malganon's full, undivided attention was now turned to its assailant. It opened its mouth with another ear-piercing roar, then drew its clawed hand back behind it. Purple, transparent waves highlighted the appendage, while down below the planet-side gems felt hard tremors beneath their feet.

Everyone watched through the shield as suddenly, sections of the ground split as stark white crystals erupted from beneath. They were no where near as tall as the ones Malganon raised directly around; massive shard-shaped crystals rose from the ground, with each new one nearing closer to the field.

"No, no-NO!" Morganite's voice could be heard. The crystals stopped rising with the final one emerging and piercing right through the recently-restored generator, completely shredding it. Instantly, the shield section once again flickered out of existence. Then, guided by Malganon's clawed hand, the floating crystals flew in straight beelines towards the dreadnought. A few slow moving capital ships were caught by some of them, while the majority of them struck the ship and its cannons. Crackling electricity and miniature explosions formed from every impact point.

"No!" Ruby Prime exclaimed, "Gem fleet, status report, what's your- oh no..." Her gaze drifted back down. There was no longer a gem field to protect them within, nothing between them and the horde of gem drones. Slowly, a number of them began to advance, however some of them actually looked back up at Malganon and appeared to retreat towards it.

"General! Some of them are still comin' at us!" one of the gem warriors called out. Instantly the drones were upon them, weapons clashing with weapons and fists pounding against fists. Slowly one by one, a gem was poofed, whether corrupted gem or not was anyone's guess.

"Grgh, Bloodstone! Druzy!" Morganite called out. The two other gems grunted in acknowledgement and stood next to her in defense. The restless Felucians watched behind them while gripping their primitive weapons anxiously.

The gem warriors continued to fight, their battle cries a sharp contrast from the gem drones' deathly silence. It was apparent however that they were being overrun. A small number of the drones eventually broke way from the fight to move further inward towards the village. One of these drones, a burly dark-red colored gem, spotted Steven and his gems and quickly dashed for them with a heavy clay-more in one hand.

"Whoa guys! Gem drone comin' straight at us!" Amethyst pointed. Both her, Steven, and Garnet quickly summoned their weapons in their hands.

"Okay, here we..." Steven held his shield arm before him as the drone prepared for a horizontal slash. As it swung however, a shadow crept over them with Pearl suddenly leaping straight over and between them. She swung the tip of her spear down to knock the drone's heavy weapon off its intended path and bury the tip in the sand. As it tried to free its weapon, Pearl then jumped in the air with a mid-air swinging kick and finished with a quick stab to the body. She touched back down as the drone exploded in a cloud of dark purple.

She turned her determined face around to meet their surprised faces, until Amethyst crossed her arms and smirked.

"Heh, what happened to 'We're leaving right now'?"

"Um, w-well this is different!" Pearl suddenly stammered, "O-obviously that drone was trying to attack you, and I will NOT have them try and cut our departure short..." she trailed off when she looked upon their knowing faces.

"It's okay, Pearl; you don't need an excuse to do what's right." Garnet turned her gaze to the side, "For example, how about we step in to help them?" She pointed a finger towards a few gem drones engaging Bloodstone, Druzy, Morganite and a few Felucians.

"By Geode... let's at least be careful!" Pearl said as they rushed forward. The other group wasn't too overwhelmed and appeared to hold their own well enough. Between the three of them, Bloodstone and Druzy were far more physical. Bloodstone uppercut a drone straight in its jaw, and as it began to fly backwards, Druzy leaped over to grab it by its head and slam it hard to the ground. The gem exploded in a dark purple cloud and Bloodstone grunted loudly in victory.

"Ya! Bloodstone and Druzy bring down bad gem!" the short blue gem exclaimed.

"No, stay behind me!" Morganite could be heard behind them. In contrast to the red and blue duo, she herself was far more defensive. There were still three more drones upon her and the armed Felucians with her, and she was quick to project shields before them before they could get too close.

Bloodstone swung around and grabbed for the nearest drone she could reach for. The drone however quickly slipped around the grasp, held a firm grip on Bloodstone's hand, and dashed around her so that she held the arm in a tight grip behind her back. Bloodstone grunted in pain and annoyance as she struggled to reach behind her with her free arm.

"Bloodstone! Let go, you!" Druzy called out. Before she could leap in to aid her friend, she was suddenly held back by a strong grip on both of her arms. Another drone had snuck up behind her and held her tightly by her arms, "Gah! Let me go, you!" She kicked as hard as she could, but the drone was unyielding in its grip.

Then, just as suddenly as she was grabbed, she felt a release of pressure. Freed, she dropped down and spun around to see what had happened. The drone was recoiling and shaking its head, as if something had hit it.

"It's alright, Druzy! We're here!" Steven called out. He held his hand back up to catch the thrown shield as it fell back down. As he did that, Garnet charged in to deliver punch after punch to the foe.

"Hey! Over here! Amethyst called out as she swung her whip out. The weapon wrapped tightly around the arm of the drone that held Bloodstone. The drone spared a single glance at the ensnarement, then at the smirking Amethyst who then tugged hard, "And now, you're comin' with me!" Tugging with all her might, Amethyst pulled the entire weight of the gem drone over her head and towards the nearby shore line.

The three remaining drones slowly turned their heads around, but were still unprepared for Pearl charging at them. She forced herself past them with a series of quick slashes and kicks to quickly jump to Morganite's side. The pink gem regarded her with a nod.

"This isn't my planet," Pearl said, "And make no mistake, I only do this in the interest of my own."

"Hmm, a mindset I can easily understand," Morganite nodded. She and Pearl looked back in front of them. Where there were once three gem drones, Pearl's slashes reduced that to just one left. This one held its single long-sword at them, as if challenging them. The Felucians clicked aggressively as they rushed forward; they surrounded the drone and swung at it with their rock slings, forcing it to defend itself rather than attack. Finally, a well-placed strike behind it to the back of its head caused it to stumble forward. Morganite quickly held her weapon and shot a small field projection before it, causing its form distort and fall backwards. The weapon was dropped from its hand but the drone could make no effort to recover it. Pearl quickly moved around to stand above it and poofed it with a quick slash of her spear.

The Felucians clicked in joy and relief. This earned a confused look from Pearl, but a nod from Morganite.

A few feet away, Garnet and Bloodstone exchanged powerful punches against their respect foes. Finally, Bloodstone finished off her's with a powerful double-handed strike from above, while Garnet spun herself to roundhouse kick her foe square in the head. Both attacks impacted simultaneously, resulting in two poofing clouds at once.

"Yeah! No-mind drones no more!" Druzy said, with Bloodstone making some sort of chuckling noise in agreement. She turned to Garnet and Steven, "You gems, and... you, Druzy thank you."

"Don't mention it," Steven said, "And I'm a human, by the way, though I'm as much a gem as you!" Garnet caught her breath in a couple of huffs, then moved closer to Steven.

"Are you hurt, Steven?" she asked.

"I'm fine Garnet," Steven said, "But what about... Hey, Amethyst!" The others turned down to the edge of the water, where Amethyst still held her whip in both hands and the other end submerged.

"Amethyst! You aren't injured are you?!" she heard Pearl call out.

"I'm fine, Pearl! I've just gotta..." She prepared to send an energy shock-wave through her weapon, until something stopped her.

"Ugh..." The gem drone had resurfaced its upper body above the water level with its back to her when she heard the noise, "W-wha-?"

"Wait a minute!" Amethyst said, "Since when can you drones talk?!" The gem quickly turned around to face the one speaking to her, and Amethyst caught a thorough look at the gem; her skin pigment was a dark brown rather than dark purple, and her once solid purple, pitch-less eyes now had pupils to them. They stared back at her with surprise and confusion.

"Who are... where am I?" she spoke until she noticed the whip tangled around her midsection, "What is this?! Release me!"

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you!" Amethyst snapped again, "You were trying to destroy us just now!"

"Destroy?" the gem rubbed her head, "All I remember was... pain, so great that it numbed me to everything else, but now... The pain! I don't feel it anymore!" She looked Amethyst square in the face, "Did you release me from this pain?"

"Hold on, back up," Amethyst interrupted, "You were in pain this whole time, yet attacking us all the same?"

"I was...?" the gem squinted her eyes as she tried to recall, "It felt like... something was making me to do things..." She opened her eyes again as she looked around, including her submerged legs in the water, "But now... there's no more? What's going on...?" Amethyst slowly lowered her arms as she listened. What sense did this make? Not one minute ago this gem was trying to attack that Bloodstone gem, yet the second she came up from that water she's all-

Amethyst gasped sharply; there's no way. There was simply no way it could really be true. Gingerly, she reached with her free hand to the end of the front of her shirt and slowly lifted. Could it really be possible- Her eyes widened; it was gone! That marking she'd gotten from that one drone's dark plasma hammer was gone! Where there was once a marking and a constant feeling of dull pain and even itching, her skin was now completely clear! Slowly breathing, Amethyst pulled her gaze away; this was definitely no coincidence, she had to tell the others!

"Amethyst!" someone called out behind her. Turning around, she could see Steven, Garnet and Pearl approaching her, "I said are you alright? You were just- um, who is that?" Pearl pointed to the gem standing in the water. The brown gem looked at them with equally confused eyes.

"Who are 'you'?" she asked, "I have no idea what's happening, nor how I got here!"

"Guys," Amethyst spoke, "You guys, it's the water!"


	27. Something in the water

Steven, Pearl, and Garnet could only blink at Amethyst's seemingly random outburst.

"Um, what do you mean 'the water'?" Pearl asked, "And wait, who is that you have tied up?" She pointed to the brown colored gem, who by now decided to walk with her free legs out of the water onto dry land.

"Okay guys, you'll probably think this is crazy..." Amethyst unconsciously glanced behind her at the body of water, "But I really do think that water there will 'cleanse' corrupted gems!" She noticed that the gems of this planet took one step backward with strange looks on their faces, while Pearl, Steven and Garnet had reasonably surprised looks on theirs.

"Wait, really?" Steven asked, "Are you serious?"

"So serious," she turned to the gem, and upon realizing her whip was tied to her, flicked it lightly to release its grip from her, "I was just now fighting this gem, up until I threw her into it!" The now freed gem stepped a reasonable distance from the other gems before her.

"I... I was... What in the cosmos...?" Her gaze had drifted until she saw Malganon in the distance, still engaged in hurling sharpened crystal shards at the fleet. Despite one of its left side shoulder crystal now reduced to a broken stub, the mere sight of it made her shudder at the sight, even before it let out another terrible roar. One unlucky ship ended up with a number of sharpened crystals piercing its right side, tearing through the exterior like paper.

"You're saying this gem was corrupted, but is now cured..." Steven inquired further, "Hang on a sec..." He reached his hand into his side pocket.

"Steven?" Pearl asked. They watched as Steven pulled out the gemstone that was Jasper, then made his way to the edge of the water, "Is that a... Wait, isn't that Jasper's gem?"

"Jasper?" the other gem said. Steven was now on his knees next to the water's edge. Carefully, he submerged the gem underneath the surface. Rather quickly, the gem began to glow its brilliant orange and red color. Steven rose and backed away to allow space. The gemstone hovered back above the water as light coalesced into a familiar humanoid form.

"No! Not another one...!" Ruby Prime's voice could be heard. She stood with her group of gem warriors, no longer fighting drones but finding that their numbers were reduced by one third. They all watched as the ship was consumed by explosions and slowly descended to the ground, "What's happened with that dreadnought? Why is it not pressing its attack?!"

 _"General, that last strike of... crystal shards, grazed our primary cannons! We're doing what we can to repair!"_ The dreadnought's pilot's voice could be heard.

"Just do what you need to do and fast!" the general urged, "That blast landed a direct hit against this thing! Unless we can keep it up, we don't have much more of a chance!" With that she turned around to find Spodumene and Citrine before her, "As for us, we've fended off quite a skirmish, but..."

"It's probable that another wave will come," Citrine said, "And that last attack depleted our numbers by this much?" The gem warriors before them stood panting and trying to stand strong.

"Yeah, but somehow we held out," Ruby Prime said.

"But this shield..." Spodumene noted the mass wreckage of the generator that once provided a section of the ray field, "It was the only thing sufficient enough to hold off gems, so we'd need..." As she turned her head to where she believed Morganite to be, she suddenly remembered Steven and his gem allies. They were seen standing near the edge of the body of water, along with... someone else? "What's going on over there?"

"Over where...?" Ruby Prime asked, turning to face where Spodumene faced. Her eyes suddenly narrowed as a gem appeared to be reforming itself. Jasper's now solid form dropped to one knee and slowly raised herself up.

"By Geode... Jasper!" the other gem exclaimed. The burly orange gem turned to her, her usual sneer replaced instead with surprise and relief upon seeing who it was.

"Tiger's Eye?" she said. The gem, Tiger's Eye, clapped her hand on Jasper's shoulder once, "I can't believe it! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing!" Tiger's Eye replied, "The last thing I remember, I was on Crystarra, then that massive lightning storm appeared and..." she trailed off, "... then suddenly I find myself here."

"Same here, I just remember a bolt of lightning and..." Jasper started, then noticed Steven and the gems watching them, "Wait a minute, all you Earth gems are here now? What is going on?" The human and gems in question finally shook themselves from their surprised state.

"You were right, Amethyst," Steven said, "The water can heal gems! It's just like... wait, could this water be the same as in Mom's fountain?"

"I-ah, I'm honestly not sure, Steven," Pearl said, "I always thought Rose's healing properties came strictly from-"

"Hey!" the voice of Ruby Prime called out. Everyone turned to find the short red gem, Citrine, and Spodumene rejoining them, with the remaining gem warriors right behind them, "Let's focus everyone! That first wave's been repelled, but with Malganon still alive there's a good chance another's coming!"

"Jasper?" Citrine spoke, "You've reformed?"

"Everyone, could I have your attention, please?" Steven announced, "This is really important: this water here can heal you! Not just your gems, but corrupted gems as well! This water seems to just wash it away!" Amethyst stood beside him with equal determination, while everyone else slowly processed what this human had just said.

"Heal corruption?" Ruby Prime asked, "Surely it can't be-"

"It is!" Amethyst interrupted, "This gem right here, 'Tiger's Eye' was corrupted a minute ago, until she got a dip in this water!" Many eyes landed on the brown gem and she found herself put off by becoming the source of attention. She then felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to her side she found Jasper, giving her an almost out of place look of genuine concern.

"I felt... I felt like I wasn't there, in a sense," Tiger's Eye announced, "Just the most unimaginable pain you could've ever felt was bearing down on me, so much that I couldn't feel much of anything else! And then suddenly, I found myself in that water, and all the pain was gone!" She gave a light point to the water, "I think this water really did do... something!"

"There, ya see?" Amethyst pressed, "Now, to any who need it, just take a dip in it-" A sound cut her short. Morganite had raised her ray field gun to shoot three more projectors between them and the edge of the water. A field now stretched as long as thirty feet, and while it was not enough to completely cover the edge, the implication sent a clear message of discouragement.

"I would ask that you step away from the Sacred Waters... now," Morganite spoke low and dangerously.

"Hey whoa! What are you doing?" Amethyst asked. Bloodstone and Druzy took stances side by side Morganite as well.

"Sacred Water not for you! You no take!" Druzy pointed, while Bloodstone grunted angrily and pounded her fists into the ground once.

"What's this now?" Jasper said, "It's a new set of rogue gems hoarding something valuable to themselves?!" As she spoke, she cast a quick glance at Tiger's Eye, "This water can heal gems, so why shouldn't we be allowed to it?"

"Really not for Bad Gem!" Druzy quickly added.

"It's quite simple, really," Morganite explained, "The Sacred Waters are not being 'hoarded' as you put it... They belong to this world, and this world alone." Many of the gems blinked, but Ruby Prime shook her head hard.

"Are you serious?" she held a hand beside her to indicate to her gem warriors, some bearing signs of damage and pain, while others were holding individual gems, both corrupted and not, in their hands, "We are in the middle of a war-zone! The fleet is giving everything they've got against Malganon, while down here our own gems have taken blows against those corrupted! If that water really has healing powers, then you are obligated to step aside and-"

"We are not obligated to anything, especially involving the Authority!" Morganite exclaimed.

"Miss Morganite, let's just talk about this," Steven spoke up, "We're not wanting to 'take' these Sacred Waters from you, and we're really not trying to steal it! But can't you see that some gems here are in need?" Morganite sighed, then shook her head looking down.

"It's not simply about that," she said, "We had lived our lives so far to the sole extent of keeping the very nature of the Sacred Waters secret. Why?" She looked back at the Crystarra gem group, "The Authority would have 'appropriated' it. This planet, it's life, and the Sacred Waters, it's all interconnected in symbiosis! To take one away..." Nearby, a handful of Felucians clicked inquisitively.

"They our people... Felucians... we protect them- no, we protect each other!" Druzy added, to which Morganite nodded.

"But now that you Authority gems know about the Waters, it seems our efforts are for naught..."

"Morganite..." Heads turned upon hearing Spodumene speak up, "There is... much you are not aware of... I'd imagine an isolationist lifestyle contributes to that." Morganite's eyes narrowed and pursed her mouth slightly, but she chose not to respond, "The truth is, in the time that you... 'disappeared', much has changed on Crystarra, must notably its government; The Diamond Authority itself is no more," This time, Morganite and even Druzy took steps back in surprise.

"No... no more Diamond?" Druzy asked, "She not hurt planet? Felucians?"

"That much is true," Citrine admitted, "The Authority's old procedures regarding interstellar colonization were reworked; there's now... careful regard for a planet's native life..." Morganite's eyes swapped back and forth between each present gem, her steel resolve slowly softening. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she raised her weapon with one arm. Jasper and Tiger's Eye initially tensed up, but quickly relaxed when they saw her weapon was pointed at the micro-generators for the three ray fields instead. The rays quickly deactivated, and the generators themselves shoot back through the barrel of the weapon by its unseen force.

With the way clear and an implication evident, the gem warriors moved to submerge themselves and corrupted gemstones in hand within the water. The clicking chatter of the Felucians intensified, but they made no effort to stop the gems.

"You've done the right thing. You have my- no, our gratitude," Ruby Prime said before moving closer to the gems at the water.

"Yes, well..." Morganite spoke with a hint of terseness in her voice. Concerned, Bloodstone placed a comforting hand on the pink gem's shoulder. Her eyes drifted away until they came back to Steven, "It seems Rose Quartz continues to make differences where they count."

"So, did you know her personally?" Steven asked.

"Rose Quartz?" she said, "My old friend... it really feels like a lifetime ago..."

"Really? Friend?" Spodumene suddenly spoke up, "That's rather surprising hearing that from you of all gems."

"What?" Steven asked.

"And what makes you think I would no longer consider her my friend?" Morganite challenged.

"I would say the moment you abandoned her!" Spodumene's outburst provoked a set of growls from both Bloodstone and Druzy, "Pearl, Garnet, you both knew Morganite as I did once! Surely you would understand?"

"Wait, now what's goin' on?" Amethyst asked.

"W-well, that's not exactly fair, seeing how I hardly spoke with her..." Pearl said.

"Spodumene! What did Morganite do?" Steven tried to cut in.

"Simply put," the fusion said, "Morganite was one of your- er, Rose Quartz's close friends on Crystarra, I'd wager as the three of us were," she indicated between herself, Pearl, and Garnet, "Yet at some point, it was discovered she was missing. Back then I thought something had happened to her, or even that she had been shattered..." She leveled a hard stare at the pink gem, "But now, the truth is painfully obvious: she's nothing but a cowardly despot!" In a flash, a pair of her energy rings materialized into the grip of two of her hands. In response, Morganite leveled her ray field gun straight at her, while Bloodstone and Druzy quickly dashed to her side with weapons summoned as well.

"Whoa, hey! Spodumene, calm down...!" an alarmed Steven said.

"You no hurt friend Morgie, fusion!" Druzy screeched. Just as quickly, the nearby Felucians rushed to Morganite's side as well, chattering angrily and holding their primitive weapons threateningly.

"Threatening me here and now might not be the wisest action, Spodumene," Morganite said, "But that aside, I'm no longer simply an underling compared to you..."

"I sincerely doubt that," Spodumene said.

"Spodumene stop! This is really no time for this!" Garnet said.

"You abandoned your friend!" the other fusion cried out, seemingly ignoring Garnet, "Did she really mean nothing to you, that you felt the need to conveniently 'disappear' under the cover of a star's supernova?" For a beat, Morganite's eyes flashed with mild surprise.

"Really?" Morganite said, "I'm rather surprised the Authority took so long to discover the tracks I had painstakingly covered."

"Everyone! Let's not be at each other's throats like this!" Steven tried to cut in, "Spodumene... Does it... does it really matter if Morganite here didn't help my mom?" Spodumene's hard stare went back and forth between Morganite and Steven.

"She could have aided Rose Quartz..." she admitted, "She was always someone I admired for her... her type of ingenuity. Someone with her skills could've helped Rose when she-"

"Do not think for a moment that I didn't consider her anything less than a good friend!" Morganite interrupted, "But even with that in mind, there came a point where not everything had to revolve around her," she motioned with a freed hand to Bloodstone and Druzy, "This was an idea we had all shared."

"So wait... The three of you abandoned the Authority to become this planet's protectors?" Steven asked. It was Bloodstone and Druzy this time who nodded to him, which caused him to harden his eyes and turn to Spodumene, "Don't you see? What these three are doing... it's not at all different from what my Mom did, nor what Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl did!" Spodumene's eyes narrowed at the boy, "If you thought it was alright for her to fight for a planet she loved, why not accept that these three want to protect a planet as well?" In that moment, words failed Spodumene, and she found herself looking at Garnet.

"You have to admit, the similarities are... there," she said. Tense moments passed, then Spodumene let her arms drop back at her sides with her hands still gripping her rings. Gently, Morganite held out a hand to her side, signalling her two gems and the gather Felucians to stand down.

"Hurting you was never my intention, nor hurting Rose Quartz," Morganite said as she lowered her ray field gun, "But back then, a choice had presented itself to me, and my two partners." Bloodstone and Druzy nodded in agreement.

"Home-world... no like Druzy," the short blue gem said, "Druzy go with Bloodstone, follow Morgie."

"Our paths had to diverge back then," Morganite said, "I couldn't tell anyone for risk of discovery, not even you."

"Man, there's only so much you can discover in one day, am I right?" Amethyst cast a glance to Pearl, Garnet, and Steven.

"Yes, well... this day has certainly been... enlightening..." Pearl agreed.

"I suppose it's not difficult at all to see things from... a certain point of view," Spodumene said with a sigh.

"Look, out there! Movement spotted!" One of the gem warriors could be heard calling out. Slowly, the group rejoined Ruby Prime, Citrine, and the other gems just inside the perimeter of where their section of the ray field once stood. Their numbers by now had increased dramatically, both from the corrupted and non-corrupted gems being reformed as a result of submersion to the waters. Now as one group, everyone gazed out upon the now scarred land between them and Malganon.

More gem drones could be seen breaking through the mushroom treeline, but something else had already cleared it and was out in the open.

"Wait a minute... is that...?" Ruby Prime squinted her eyes at first, then slowly widened them. Two figures could be seen walking on a straight course to the village. They walked side by side and much further in front of the gem drones. One figure was yellow, the other white.

"The Diamonds."


	28. Fight on Felucia pt2- Diamond wills

Ruby Prime had even warned them of what had happened with Diamond earlier, yet the huge group of warrior gems found themselves gasping and nervously murmuring. Surely this could not be; the very gem who had once been leader of their kind now walking towards them seemingly mindlessly. Even with the distance between them, the eyes of both Diamonds held their stares, focused with a hint of condescending.

"Now I remember..." Tiger's Eye spoke softly, Jasper perking up as she heard her. The brown gem pointed out to White Diamond on the right, "Her's was the very last face I saw, right before everything went dark..." Jasper turned back to the advancing Diamonds. Sure, in the past Diamond had always struck her as... odd, for lack of better word, but she did manage to keep relative order. To see her reduced to the state of one of these mindless gem drones controlled by that monster... how could this have happened?

Ruby Prime put one foot forward as she pounded a fist into her other hand.

"Stay strong, gems! Don't let yourselves be intimidated!" she announced, "Remember what I said earlier: those very gems there, Yellow and White Diamond, are responsible for risking the very existence of all gems on our planet!" Suddenly, Jasper's eyes lit up with an idea.

"Yeah so, just let those Earth gems deal with them!" she offered. This earned her a number of looks from her fellow gem warriors, and a vocal response from Amethyst.

"Um, excuse me!?"

"You and them fought them before and beat them, right?" Jasper continued to Ruby Prime, "So just do it again!" To the Earth gems' surprise, Ruby Prime's face scrunched in thought instead of outright refusing the notion.

"You know... that's not entirely a bad idea..." she conceded.

"I'm sorry, but don't 'we' have any say in this?!" an approaching Pearl pointed between herself and her fellow Earth gems, "We already fought once Diamond before- YOU fought Diamond! You cannot expect us do this again!"

"And it doesn't appear that neither Diamond, nor the gem drones will be giving you much choice!" Ruby Prime countered, "Nor give any of us choice, really! They are coming straight for us, so we need to be ready for the worst, and... I have to say that the five of us have the best experience!"

"Grgh!" Pearl's voice caught in her throat as she gritted her teeth.

"Hang on..." Steven spoke, "What if... what if the Diamonds themselves were put in the Waters?" He looked around at the other gems looking at him, "The Waters can cure corruption, so they could definitely cure the Diamonds as well, can't they?"

"Are you seriously proposing we allow Diamond access to the Sacred Waters?" Morganite spoke firmly. Bloodstone pounded the ground with a single fist while shaking her head as well.

"We can't just allow a gem who's corrupted to stay that way!" Steven protested, "We have to do something!"

"Enough!" Ruby Prime cut in, "Healing and whatnot will be considered later. For now we simply need to halt their advance!" She pointed in the direction of Diamond and the advancing drones as a reminder, "You Earth gems and I do have experience, so... we'll lead the way. Everyone else fall in behind to support us!" The gem warriors murmured to each other in response, but nonetheless followed their short general as she led them out and past the ray field's perimeter. Out of all the gems however, only three remained well behind them.

"Preposterous! A tech gem such as myself is not suited for combat!" Peridot huffed and turned to Spodumene, "Spodumene, surely we're not expected to take part in physical combat? Least of all against Diamond?!"

"I would have to agree there," Morganite said, "In fact, the most pressing concern should be the ray field. It was the only thing preventing gem intruders from entering the village and the Waters. With such an obvious breach..."

"Really?" Spodumene said, "It seems our task is clear; Peridot, the three of us can repair that generator. Your flask robo-noids contain the repairing nano-fluid, do they not?" The olive gem nodded, "And Morganite, the generator will need to be repaired and restored to exactly the specifications that you established for it." Peridot's flustered state appeared to calm down after Spodumene explained the plan. The two of them broke away from the other gems and approached the wreckage of the generator. Morganite followed behind, until she sensed someone behind her. Turning around, Bloodstone had followed her with Druzy mounted atop her back.

"No, it's alright you two," she quickly waved, "I will be fine, just... Stay with the villagers and protect them." She pointed back to the wary Felucians. The short blue gem looked out and seemed to shake her head.

"But, Morgie, we want help!"

"I will be fine, they need your protection, now go." Bloodstone looked back at the the Felucians, then nodded with a grunt back to Morganite. She made her way back, Druzy still on her back making no effort to stop her. Morganite turned back around to the direction of the wrecked generator to find Spodumene and Peridot there, watching and waiting for her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked Peridot after noticing a look she gave her.

"Oh, it's just that... a mining gem and a scout gem taking orders from a tech gem?" she spoke, her lips creeping into a grin, "I have to say I enjoyed what I saw just now-"

"Please do not get so full of yourself, Peridot," Spodumene interrupted. Morganite herself was ready to retort until Spodumene had cut in, "We still have an urgent task before us." She turned back around to the generator wreckage.

"Um, yes, of course Spodumene," Peridot quickly pointed an arm limb enhancer at the ground to bring forth her robo-noids.

The other gems continued their march past the ray field's perimeter. Citrine walked faster until she had caught up with Ruby Prime at the front.

"So this is really our plan?" she asked her council member counterpart, "Simply combat former Mistress Diamond and a legion of corrupted gems, all while our fleet slowly crumbles against Malganon?" A quick glance in the air reminded them both that the fleet still had Malganon's attention for the most part.

"Our fleet is not 'crumbling'," Ruby Prime retorted, "If they can just get the dreadnought to fire again, that monstrosity will be finished! But Diamond on the other hand..." The aforementioned gem of two identical bodies drew ever closer to them, "It might be that the human's plan is not a bad one..."

"The plan to 'purify' Diamond of the corruption?" Citrine said, "Hmmm, and a chance to potentially restore Diamond to the state she was before... Hmmm..." What anxiety Citrine had slowly began to melt away as she marched forward. Behind them, however, Steven and his gems walked various amounts of anxiety still gripping them.

"This is insane...!" Pearl still protested as they marched, "Why are we doing this? Again?!"

"I'm not sure, but..." Amethyst pondered, "When it comes to being a planet's protectors? I'd say that's something we have experience in..."

"Yes, 'OUR' planet!" Pearl countered, "Not this one! And Diamond herself, she's-"

"I still think there's a chance..." Steven said, "If we could just get her to the Waters, free her from the corruption!"

"Steven..." Pearl looked down to him at her side, "We could heal Diamond, but I'm really not certain that we 'should'. Every time we've encountered her, she's tried to destroy us!" Amethyst opened her mouth to argue, but realized with quick thought that Pearl correct.

"That aside," Garnet spoke up, "There's a chance that a 'purified' Diamond could be what we need to stop Malganon. She's been acting as it's primary sentinel, its puppet even, this entire time. If she weren't hostile, she could relay how exactly to destroy it." She looked around to find Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst giving her strange looks, "What?"

"Um, I have a feeling she's not gonna just 'tell' us how to stop Malganon," Amethyst pointed out, "I mean, even when she wasn't acting all 'zombie-like'," she stretched her arms forward in a mock demonstration of a zombie while walking, "I agree with Pearl, on that at least."

"Guys..." Steven softly said, "Well, I'm not gonna give up, even on her..."

"Everyone hold!" Ruby Prime suddenly called out. All the gems following her came to a halt. A quick glance behind him and Steven could see that all the warrior gems stood behind them in a line spanning the length of a half circle, while he, his gems, Ruby Prime and Citrine stood in the center. The short red gem lowered her arm back down into a light fist as she looked forward.

They just stood there; Yellow and White Diamond, while a legion of corrupted gem drones stood behind, as if waiting on their mark. Side by side, they gazed forward, dark purple pupil-less eyes with veins that spider-webbed around the outside of their heads. As they stood however, their stances were much more relaxed, as opposed to the aggressive stances that Steven and his gems were so familiar with them taking. Their arms hung at their sides and their hands hadn't even formed into any sort of offensive weapons.

"They're not attacking us yet?" Ruby Prime questioned.

"If not... maybe they wish to parlay," Citrine offered. Carefully she took a single step forward, just enough to gain the Diamonds' attention.

"You... who stand defiant..." the White Diamond spoke, "This struggle is fruitless." Upon hearing words from her, a number of the gem warriors could be heard chattering nervously. Wordlessly, Ruby Prime held her arm up again, silencing them.

"Mistress Di-" Citrine started, "Er, 'Former' Mistress Diamond, as a council-member representative of the Galactic Gem Society, you are hereby ordered to cease any and all further aggression-"

"These vessels answer only to the master..." the Yellow Diamond interrupted with a matching monotone as the white one.

"Don't give us any of that!" Ruby Prime shouted, "You have much to answer for after what you did on Crystarra, and definitely what you're planning to do right now!" She redirected her pointing finger to Malganon, "You will start by telling us how to destroy Malganon!" The two Diamonds simply watched her, completely unfazed by her threats.

"The Master cannot be destroyed," the White Diamond spoke.

"The Master is eternal," the Yellow Diamond picked up. Right as she said that, in the distance Malganon's eyes for a moment seemed to lock on all the gems on the ground staring at it when its one shoulder gem glowed again. It snapped its head back up and blasted its bolt of lightning at a nearby capital ship. The plating on the ship held as best it could, but slowly it started to give way from the blast of pure lightning. The gems on the ground watched in horror as small explosions began to overtake the ship.

 _"...-rgency! Systems critical! General, we-"_ A crackling transmission was heard through Ruby Prime's communicator.

"Blast!" Ruby Prime uttered while watching, "Dreadnought what's your status? Why are you not firing?!"

 _"Repairs are nearly complete! We need more time!"_ A different clearer voice was heard.

"Nuisances before the Master," one of the Diamonds said.

"Please! Enough of this!" Steven stepped forward, "Why are you doing this? What is it that you want?!" The Diamonds did not answer immediately. Instead, they slowly looked at him.

"You..." the White Diamond said, "The Master... notices you..." Steven unconsciously took a single step back, while Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were now on alert from hearing these words as well.

"Me?" the boy said, "Why would it notice me?"

"Okay, that's not creepy at all..." Amethyst said. For a second, neither of the Diamonds replied. Instead, the White Diamond suddenly dashed forward, legs propelling her to an unexpected speed. Before Steven could raise his hands to summon his shield, much less a bubble, Diamond was already on him. Her outstretched naturally-colored arm reached out and gripped him on top of his head. It was then that all went black...

* * *

He could feel how hard he was clenching his eyes. Was it out of reflex? Diamond had reached out to him, but, what would she do to him? He relaxed his eyes, just enough to peek out a tiny bit. What greeted him was black.

"What the-?" Steven's eyes shot open. Neither White Diamond's arm, nor White Diamond herself for that matter, were no longer in front of him! He looked all around him to find absolutely nothing. All that was around him was a black void, empty of anything. He then looked down to find that his feet weren't exactly standing him up on anything. He was pretty much floating in place, where ever that was.

"What's happened? Where am I?" he asked no one in particular, "Diamond! Are you there? What did you do to me?!" His only response was echo-less silence, yet it still sounded so deafening.

"Hello? Diamond?" Steven looked to his sides, each time more frantically, "G-Garnet? Amethyst! Pearl! Anyone!?" The silence persisted, and Steven began to shudder involuntarily, "There's really no one here... I'm all alone..."

 _"Submit."_ Steven's head perked up from a sudden noise, then quickly winced as he felt a tiny bit of pain in the back of his head like a small headache.

"Ouch, I shouldn't have moved my head so fast," he rubbed the back of his head with one hand, "Wait, hello? Is someone there?"

 _"Surrender."_ This time a voice could be heard a little clearer. It was a whisper in tone, yet such simple whispers seemed to permeate him from all directions at once.

"There it is again..." the boy looked around, "Who's there? If you're out there, could you help me? I have no idea where I am right now-"

 _"You... resist?"_ the voice cut in, _"Admirable."_ Steven blinked in complete confusion.

"I resist? What do you..." Steven's heart slowly sank as realization began to dawn on him, "Wait, is this... Malganon?!" There was a beat of a pause before something happened; a spot of dark void right before him suddenly appeared to split horizontally. It happened so fast, but it turns out the 'splitting' was actually what appeared to be a single eye opening up before him!

Steven flinched at this so sudden action. Even from the distance between them, he guessed that this eye was at least longer than three of his own combined heights! The eye itself glowed brightly with a mix of dark purple and blood red with a single black slit reaching from top to bottom.

 _ **"Your will is strong,"**_ Malganon's voice sounded much louder this time. It was actually a culmination of many whispered voices, all speaking at once, and all of iron will.

"This is your eye?" Steven asked, "How's that possible? How is 'any' of this possible, where am I?!"

 _ **"Your mind gives vision,"**_ Malganon said.

"My mind... This is all in my head?" Steven said softly, then quickly shook his head, "No! I won't let you control me! Why are you doing this?!"

 _ **"The thralls are suitable..."**_ Malganon replied to Steven's seemingly random outburst, _**"But frail."**_ Steven's face turned hard as he quickly realized the implication.

"Gems are NOT 'thralls'! They are not your puppets!" he protested, "And we are able to free them! We'll get all gems to the Sacred Waters so that they'll be free from your control!" For a moment, it almost appeared as if Malganon's eye was flinching.

 _ **"The blood of my foe is... irrelevant,"**_ Malganon spoke, which gave Steven a moment's pause, _**"What is important... is you."**_ At these words, Steven wished he stood on solid ground instead of hovering in midair so he could step back from the menacing eye.

"M-me?" he said, "That's right, Diamond said you wanted me, but what could you possibly want?!"

 _ **"These... gems, are weak. They wither and crumble with time..."**_ Steven's hands clenched ever harder with every word spoke, _**"But you... your body will endure. You will serve..."**_ Suddenly the headache Steven felt earlier returned. His entire head felt like it was inside of a vice being slowly squeezed. He clutched the side of his head with his hands as the ache seemed to spread. Soon nearly every part of his body began to ache with pain. It was dull but absolutely persistent.

"Grgh! What's... happening...?!" he said through clenched teeth, "What are you... doing... to me?!"

 _ **"You... will... serve...!"**_ The eye of Malganon appeared to widen and glow brighter than before. The bright redness began illuminate everything before Steven so much that he was forced to clench his eyes shut as well. Through the blinding light plus the pounding ache in his head, Steven was finding it very difficult to focus on... anything!

 _'I can't give in...!'_ Steven mentally stressed, _'But it hurts so... much...?'_ The pain, was it starting to let up? He gingerly allowed one eye to open by just a crack. The black void that surrounded him appeared to brighten to dull gray. The harsh red light of Malgnon's eye wasn't blinding him as fiercely as before, and Steven carefully opened both eyes.

The vision was blurry, but there appeared to be someone standing in front of him back to him; someone with bouncy pink curls of hair, a shield in one hand, and a sword in the other.

"Mom-?" was the only word Steven managed before the world around him blinded him in white light.


	29. Fight on Felucia pt3- Titans

Within a second, White Diamond had launched herself forward and was on the group. Every single gem held a defensive stance to prepare for the worst. But what no one was expecting was where exactly she had her sights on, and Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were horrified when they realized.

White Diamond had pressed her open-fingered hand atop Steven's head, right through the transparent bubble-field that acted as his breather. Steven's eyes instantly widened, but simply stood there as if transfixed in horror. Everything happened in the span of one second, but his gems wasted not a second more.

"Steven!" Pearl cried out. Garnet moved first by leaping forward and mustered every ounce of strength she could into a roundhouse kick. To her mild surprise, White Diamond made no attempt to stop her or prevent her attack from landing. White Diamond was knocked backwards, skidded along the ground haphazardly, but in the end had pulled herself to a knee as she broke the ground skidding towards Yellow Diamond. Garnet quickly took an aggressively defensive stance between them and Steven, with Pearl and Amethyst directly behind her.

"You will NOT touch him again!" Garnet declared.

"Yeah, step off!" Amethyst added. White Diamond simply rose to her feet again, seemingly unfazed by neither the attack nor the verbal threats. The surrounding gem drones however witnessed this sudden action and slowly began to summon their various weapons.

Diamond's physical contact broken, Steven suddenly clenched his eyes and shook his head hard. This drew Pearl's attention who dropped down to one knee before him.

"Steven! Are you alright!?" Her hand darting all over his head to check for damages.

"Pearl? Guys?" the boy looked all around him, then captured Pearl in a massive hug, "Oh man! I'm so glad you're back!"

"Back?" Amethyst threw him a confused look, "Steven, that White Diamond touched you for like a second!"

"Are you hurt? What did she do to you?" Pearl asked.

"Wait, what? One second?" Steven asked, putting a hand to his head, "It was so creepy... Just now I was somewhere completely dark. Then suddenly Malganon's eye just appeared right before me, and I felt pain all over...!" He shuddered as he remembered what it felt like, yet was glad he was in no pain at the moment.

"So Malganon did hurt you? That monster...!" Pearl flashed an angry look over her shoulder to the giant in the distance. Garnet stood in the forefront of her vision and she could swear she held the same angry look as her.

"But guys, that's not the worst part, Malganon actually spoke to me!" All three gems spun back to him at that statement.

"You mean that giant, roaring creature over there 'spoke' to you?" Amethyst asked skeptically.

"It's crazy I know, but..." Steven continued, "It told me that 'gems were weak' and that it wanted... me."

"'Wanted' you?" Pearl said, "Whatever for? What could that thing possibly want with a human-?"

"It does not it matter," Garnet cut in, "Because it will not take you, Steven. I won't allow it!" Pearl shook her head hard and rose to her feet as well.

"You're absolutely right, Garnet."

"Hey, Earth gems! Look sharp, it looks like you've really provoked them!" Ruby Prime's voice called out. Both Diamonds back to back, Yellow using her left arm and White using her right, had pointed straight at their opposing group of gems, which the surrounding gem drones took as the signal to charge. Like before, the two groups met with the sound of clashing of steel and fists.

"There are just too many of them-!" one of the normal gem warriors cried out, though Ruby Prime would not for the life of her know who exactly.

"Keep fighting! We must-" the short red gem started until the sound from her earpiece drew her attention.

 _"This is Dreadnought One hailing General Ruby Prime. General, are you there?"_

"I'm here, Dreadnought," Ruby Prime answered in between fending off strikes from her most immediate attacker, "Has that ship been restored?"

 _"That is affirmative, General,"_ the pilot's voice replied, _"The weapon systems have been restored to full functionality, however..."_

"However, what?"

 _"Well, if that monster hits us again with a blast of lightning or even those enlarged crystals, I don't know if we can withstand it this time!"_

"Drrgh!" Ruby Prime jumped into the air to double kick her foe square in the chest, sending the drone flying backwards. The short red gem herself flew backwards as well, but in a perfect back-flip and landed perfectly on her knee. She snapped her head up to the fleet of ships in the air, "All ships: priority defense of the Dreadnought! Do not let it fall!" As she stood up, she looked to her side to find she had landed next to the Earth gems, "If we lose the Dreadnought, we'll lose any chance of defeating Malganon!"

"But what can we do?" Steven asked, "If he's looking down at us, he could blast us with lightning as well!" There was a second of silent thought before Amethyst's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Wait a minute, I've got it!" she exclaimed, "Let's get his attention on something else entirely! Garnet, we should bring out Sugilite to beat it up good!"

"Sugilite?" Pearl said, actually considering, "That might- no! It's too risky! Don't you remember what happened last time we allowed her to run rampant?"

"Well now we can let her 'run rampant' on a giant monster!" Amethyst countered, "You got any better ideas?"

"I think... I think Opal would be more reliable..." Her reply actually gave Amethyst pause.

"Well, yeah but..." the purple gem said, "She wouldn't really pack that much of a punch, ya know?"

"You're both wrong," Garnet spoke up, earning her surprised looks from the other two, "but at the same time, you're both right. We'll need someone with Sugilite's strength, as well as Opal's control." The other two's faces slowly lit up as she explained.

"Wait, do you mean-?" Pearl said.

"Uh-huh," Garnet said with a smile, "We need Alexandrite."

"Oh yeah! I'm totally down for that!" Amethyst stuck a fist in the air.

"Alexandrite?!" Steven's star-eyes lit up as well, "Alright!"

"Um, excuse me?" Ruby Prime announced, "What are you three on about?"

"Oh right, you don't know," Steven stepped closer to the red gem, "We have a special someone who can help right now: a fusion called Alexandrite!"

"A fusion?" Ruby Prime looked at the three gems.

"-And while she keeps Malganon's attention," Steven continued, "We can deal with Diamonds and the corrupted gems down here!" At the mention of Diamond, Pearl's head perked up in alarm.

"What? No, Steven! We can't just let you fight Diamond yourself!" she protested, until Ruby Prime held her hand up.

"It's a sound strategy," she said, "Thus, you have my word, my warriors and myself will fight alongside Steven here when dealing with her." She spoke rather professionally and earnestly, a tone of voice Pearl was not expecting to hear. She reluctantly gave a quick nod to him, then moved further away with Garnet and Amethyst to a wider space of the land.

As one, danced their individual dance styles; Pearl spun around with grace and elegance, Amethyst thrusted her hips from side to side, while Garnet's arms practically flowed before her at high speed into different positions. Soon all three's gems glowed at once, signalling them to suddenly thrust a single hand towards their center and meet. Steven and Ruby Prime watched as their bodies glowed a solid white even before they 'merged'. The white light figure reached the height of the nearby mushroom trees, but it continued to grow taller. Finally, a grand height was reached and the light dissipated, revealing the six-armed Alexandrite.

"Incredible," Ruby Prime watched in awe. Some of the warrior gems had turned heads to watch as well. The towering fusion looked back down at the ground to where Steven stood.

"Good luck, Steven, be safe," Alexandrite's own unique voice spoke. With that, she crouched down slightly and leaped into the air, straight over the raging ground battle. She landed back down on the ground, with Malganon relatively close by. The force of the landing sent tremors all throughout, and even the monster itself looked up at this newcomer. Its eyes flared red and it let out its ear-piercing roar. But Alexandrite was not fazed; a crease beneath her chin opened and she revealed her second maw of sharper teeth in a mighty war-like cry to match.

"Ow, even her roar is just as loud as Malganon's..." Steven complained after removing his hands from his ears.

 _"General Ruby Prime, we're receiving visual of something else down there as big as Malganon!"_ The general put a finger to her ear as the voice from the fleet was heard again.

"I can confirm that, fleet," she said, "This fusion should provide all the distraction you need; don't let us down!" She then turned to Steven, "Now then, let's get back to dealing with the Diamonds!"

"Ah, right!" Steven nodded. The two of them dashed back into the thick of conflict. With his shield, Steven charged forward while blocking against gem drones that tried to attack him from the side, while Ruby Prime openly attacked any drone that got too close to both her and Steven. Occasionally Steven would hold his shield up and flat for Ruby Prime to jump off into a foe, with him finishing them off with a shield bash.

"Sorry!" Steven said as the drone fell flat on its back, "If you're there and you felt that, I'm really sorry-!"

"Steven, eyes front!" Ruby Prime announced. He spun around to where she was looking. There they were, White and Yellow Diamonds. The two of them had bested a pair of gem warriors that had challenged them, and were now slowly turning their heads in their direction as well. White Diamond's non-clenched hands were at her side with shimmering light purple energy flowing from them, while Yellow Diamond's hand was held up by her side, energy concentrating in her palm.

"Whoa, I think she's-" Steven noted then realized in a snap-instant. Yellow Diamond shot her hand forward as well as an energy blast straight for Ruby Prime, but Steven stretched his left shielded arm out to quickly deflect the blast up into the air, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks for that protection."

"You..." the voice from White Diamond drew their attention back to her, "The master desires you..." Her hands clenched back and forth with the energy still practically dripping from them.

"You will serve..." Yellow Diamond added as they both stalked forward to them.

"No! I won't serve, that thing!" Steven protested, "And neither should you! Malganon's got you enslaved! But we can help you, just let us take you to these Sacred Waters and you'll be free of him!" Their facial expressions did not change at all, though their walking speed did slow down slightly.

"Steven," Ruby Prime spoke seriously, "You might have to consider the possibility... that they might not want help..."

"Well, how could..." Steven unconsciously took a step back, "Why would anyone want to be... just... a slave? And to that thing?" The only response that awaited him was that White Diamond was upon him with energy-dripping hands reaching for him. This time he jumped backwards to avoid her. Almost in frustration, White Diamond's hands clenched into fists when she swiped at Steven again.

Ruby Prime quickly closed the distance between her and Yellow Diamond and quickly roundhouse kicked her opponent's outstretched arm from her. She then used the momentum from landing to jump forward to Yellow Diamond's head level. She landed a single punch to the face, followed by a second, until the other arm shot forth to stop a third from landing. Surprised, Ruby Prime tried in vain to pull her fist loose from Yellow Diamond's. The taller yellow gem's face still hardly betrayed emotion as she suddenly swung Ruby Prime in place around her before loosing her.

"Drrgh!" Steven grunted. His arms and hands were stretched out as his bubble shielded him from White Diamond's blows. Suddenly he saw her jump to the side, and he felt safe to dispel his bubble, only to watch as last minute a familiar red body came sailing straight at him, "Whoa, Ruby-" The two of them impacted and were knocked back several feet, which the two Diamonds wasted no time in pursuing them.

"General!" Citrine watched from the side. She made a move to join her comrade until a drone of about her identical build blocked her path. She punched at the gold gem with bladed bracers, forcing Citrine to hold the line and block with her sais.

Alexandrite meanwhile continued to dodge flying shards of massive crystals being thrown at her. They ranged from smaller ones to the size of her fists, to sharpened and enlarged ones that more than spanned the length of her leg. She was exerting herself physically, while Malganon was hardly moving at all. Rippling light blue waves could be seen all around his head and claws whenever a crystal was ripped from the ground and thrown.

"So he's throwing these crystals with his mind?" Alexandrite spoke as a large one was lifted from the ground and thrown at her, "I'll need to get closer..." She twisted her body to the side to nearly let the crystal fly past her until she grabbed it securely with all six of her arms. With a heavy grunt, she used the momentum to swing the crystal back at the monster.

Malganon deftly raised its right clawed hand, and the crystal was veered off its course, instead sailing off and crashing many miles away. In that small moment of time, Alexandrite quickly moved. She closed the distance and punched hard with her three right arms. Malganon made a strange sort of pain grunt from her three fists actually connecting against the upper body. She followed up with another set of punches from her left fists, then propped herself on her left foot as she kicked out her right. She watched with satisfaction as the force did send Malganon sailing back. As she regained her balance on two feet, her satisfaction quickly faded as she saw Malganon was still in the air, yet appeared to be somehow floating on his own.

"You can fly?" Alexandrite asked, "Of course you can fly..." Hovering in place, Malganon merely looked down upon her, its slit eyes appearing to glow bright red. It's whole right shoulder crystal began to glow red with red lightning outlying it, and Alexandrite instantly knew. She opened her lower maw and let the hot energy build within.

The sounds of a thunderclap and an explosion rumbled through the air, as Malganon's red lightning and Alexandrite's breath of fire shot forth. The two beams met in an explosive stalemate, with neither side able to overpower the other.

"Grgh, such... strength... need to..." the fusion's upper mouth spoke. Mustering a quick burst of will she powered her fire again. This time her beam of fire made steady progress in pushing back the lightning. As it drew closer to Malganon's head, the monster's eyes suddenly squinted slightly. It suddenly abandoned its lightning attack, pulled his head away, and flew his own body perfectly out of the path of the fire. This left Alexandrite's fire to continue travelling, straight towards a Crystarra capital ship directly behind. Her eyes widened behind her visor and she bit down her lower maw to cancel any more fire from spewing.

Unfortunately, her brief moment of hesitation cost her, as Malganon suddenly with a roar lurched forward, and swung his entire body in place, throwing his massive tail straight for Alexandrite. She raised her six arms to brace herself, but was caught off guard by the sheer force behind the swing. She fell to her side, the planet's tall mushroom forest cushioning her fall, but she quickly pulled herself to her feet again.

"Alright, if that's how you wanna play..." The gem on Alexandrite's chest glowed, and her two middle arms pulled forth two sets of split whips, "Let's play."


	30. Fight on Felucia pt4- Let's go down

"Good, now to reform the outer casing..." Morganite said. She and Spodumene watched as Peridot's small machines constructed a new synthetic outer-lay for the generator. The work was slow, but steady, and the once destroyed generator was actually starting to resemble its original form prior to its destruction. Peridot herself even chipped in by assisting her own robo-noids in small detail touch-ups. Out of the corner of her eye, Morganite noticed a look on the fusion's face, "What?" Spodumene looked at her, then shook her head.

"Nothing, just that... I still remember these prototype generators' conception and their initial construction, even after all the time that's passed..." In spite of herself, Morganite gave a faint smile from the memory.

"They are efficient models, aren't they?"

"From a professional opinion, I would have to disagree," Peridot spoke up even as she worked, "The internal circuitry is severely outdated, and that's not even accounting for the exterior, which would barely survive being weathered by such a... rough environment..." She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Morganite, who's face carefully betrayed no emotion, "Still, its functionality in light of its location is... admirable." Finally their work was completed. One by one, each stood up and away from the generator within the village's perimeter. With a much clearer view, the generator had been successfully restored to its previous state.

"Impressive work, I have to say..." Morganite spoke as she herself glanced at Peridot out of the corner of her eye, "Now let's get it-"

"What in the-?" Peridot's sudden question was accompanied by the rush of something flying past them; something large, round, and pink. Steven and Ruby Prime tumbled all around inside of his bubble as it rolled across the sands until it popped itself away, sending them sprawled across the ground.

"Ugh, ow..." Steven groaned as he raised himself to his feet.

"General Ruby Prime?" Peridot said.

"And Steven...?" Spodumene looked back at where they had come from, then widened her eyes in alarm. Both Yellow and White Diamond were running in pursuit of them and drawing nearer to the ray field border, "Morganite! Raise the field, quickly!"

"Right! Here it goes..." Morganite quickly pressed a button on her gun. For a moment the generator sputtered pink wavelengths from its base until is standard thin wall was projected. Unfortunately, the two Diamonds jumped into forward rolls and leaped inside, narrowly avoiding the ray field cutting them off.

"No..." Morganite said, fear creeping into her voice for the first time in a long time, "Bloodstone! Druzy!" The Diamonds however did not even turn in her direction, instead continued to walk towards Steven and Ruby Prime.

"Here, I got you," Steven quickly pulled Ruby Prime to her feet. Suddenly he gasped; the air suddenly felt thinner, a little hard to breathe. Everything around him was no longer had a pink shade as well, "The helmet- thing!" He looked down as his fingers frantically tried to find the button to grant him precious air.

"Steady now..." Ruby Prime softly said. Before them, the two Diamonds stalked towards them, the world around them not even earning their notice. Ruby Prime held her fists up yet again, while nervousness started to creep over Steven.

"RRRAAAAGGH!" the sounds of screeching, both low and high pitched caused them to spin their heads around and look behind them. They then quickly jumped to the sides as Bloodstone, with Druzy on her back, and at least a dozen armed Felucians ran past them, straight for the Diamonds.

Yellow Diamond held her palms up to catch Bloodstone's slamming fists. The two sets of arms met with a crushing thud, and Yellow Diamond was actually forced to set one foot behind her for balance and support. Druzy meanwhile jumped off of Bloodstone straight for White Diamond, dagger in hand. In a flash, Diamond caught the dagger wrist before it could connect.

"You... let... go!" Druzy thrashed for a second, then swung her body up and wrapped itself all around the arm. Diamond thrashed her arm to loose the stubborn gem, but Druzy held fast. In that instant, White Diamond was also beset by the Felucians, and she was forced to abandon loosing Druzy from her arm in favor of dodging and evading their own attacks. The native creatures' attacks were both erratic yet precise at the same time as they swung their crude weapons.

"Steven!" the boy turned his head to find the three tech-minded gems running over to join him and Ruby Prime, "Steven? Why does your face look so red?"

"Spodumene!" Steven gasped as he pointed to the ring around his neck, "Your... thing here... turned off...! Need it... to..."

"Oh, of course! Hold still..." The fusion's lower hands moved quickly to rapidly tap across the outside of the ring, and soon the clear pink sphere re-materialized. Steven dramatically took a deep breath of air.

"Ah, thanks Spodumene!" As he looked up at her, he looked around to get his bearings. The village's structures were nearby, while on the other side of the ray field wall the gem warriors battled against the mindless drones. In the distance Alexandrite and Malganon were engaged in battle. Everything he held his eyes on brew morbid fear within.

"Bloodstone, Druzy, my people..." Morganite watched as they held their own against the two juggernauts, "This is madness- We have to stop those two Diamonds here and now!"

"It's not that easy!" Ruby Prime said, "They're just as fast as I am when they attack!"

"We could... we could incapacitate them? Dispel their physical forms?" Spodumene said.

"Guys!" Steven spoke up to get their attention. Once they regarded him, he pointed out to the water's edge, "The Sacred Waters! That is our only chance now!"

"What?"

"It is! It's the only chance we have to cleanse them of corruption, which once they're cleansed they'll stop attacking!" The other gems said nothing as they exchanged looks between each other. Morganite also glanced over to where the Diamonds were. They were still being held at bay by Bloodstone, Druzy, the Felucians...

"I... " Morganite said, "By Geode... I agree." She held a hard, but somewhat defeated look on her face, which Steven noticed. He moved closer to her to put a reassuring hand on her arm.

"Thank you, Morganite," he said, "This is all very important to you, so I'll do everything I can to keep it safe." The pink gem looked at him, and while she didn't smile at his gesture, the hard look on her face did soften a little. Without warning, she broke away and ran towards the immediate conflict, "Hey, wait up!" He jogged after her, shield arm swinging back and forth with his strides.

"Bloodstone, Druzy, everyone!" she tried to call out, "Corral the Diamonds towards the Sacred Waters!" Druzy suddenly perked in surprise at this. Unfortunately, she unintentionally loosened her grip on White Diamond's arm, allowing the taller gem to finally pry her loose. She then hurled Druzy away to finally devote her attention to the angry Felucians still attacking her. Druzy screeched as she flew threw the air.

"Hey, I gotcha...!" Steven called out. He ran to the side, where the screeching Druzy was sure to land. Her force pushed him a little, but he held his balance as he caught her and set her down, "There you go."

"Bloodstone!" Druzy called out. The hulking red-black gem appeared to be struggling against Yellow Diamond, despite the drastic size difference between the two. Hard as she might, she could not press her arms against her enemy's any further than right before her head. Suddenly, she pulled one of her occupied hands to her lower side, thus forcing Bloodstone's hand down as well. With her hand now freed, she slapped a back hand across Bloodstone's face that sent her recoiling. The burly gem grunted in pain and was unprepared for when Yellow Diamond finished with a straight kick that sent her back a few feet.

Yellow Diamond then quickly moved in to attack the Felucians from behind. The natives were caught off guard from focusing on White Diamond and clicked in alarm and panic. Yellow Diamond on the other hand easily bested any Felucian that attacked her, moving with grace movements clearly not marred by any sort of fatigue.

"Oh no, I've got to..." Steven said, then quickly acted, "Hey Diamonds! Over here!" The two Diamond's heads actually perked up upon hearing his voice, and turned to see him, "Yeah that's right, it's me you want, remember?!" In that moment two of the Felucians were swinging at the same time to strike White Diamond, but she quickly jumped up to avoid both of them. She leaped a clear line straight over the cluster of Felucians into a patch of open land, Steven a few feet before her. Yellow Diamond on the other hand ran clear around the group to join her white counterpart as well. In no time, the two were on him again, "That's right, follow- whoa!"

White Diamond's arm stretched forward, the hand on the end morphing into many pointed shards. Steven quickly jumped to the side as the extended appendage crashed into the ground where he stood, then quickly retracted itself. He then turned and ran straight for the edge of the Sacred Waters. Behind him, the Diamond's began to chase after him, ignoring everyone else entirely. Morganite and Druzy ran to Bloodstone's sides to help her up.

"Bloodstone hurt?" Druzy asked, to which the larger gem shook her head.

"Good, then let's go you two," Morganite urged, "He is leading them to the Sacred Waters. We must make sure that they get there."

"But Morgie- Waters not for Diamond-!" Druzy said.

"You'll just have to trust me on this!" Morganite insisted, then stood up with a wave of her hand, "Now let's go!" She didn't wait for a response from either as she quickly ran after the Diamond's. Reluctantly, Druzy climbed atop Bloodstone's shoulders and the two charged after as well.

Steven panted hard as he ran, occasionally glancing over each shoulder. He was thankful every time he did as it gave him an early warning when a Diamond would lash out an extended arm in his direction. He quickly dashed out of harm's way whenever it did happen. It was actually quite a workout for him and he was starting to feel the burn.

"Gotta... keep... going..." he said, "Almost... there...!" He skidded to a halt, just at the edge of the Waters. He bent over, placed his hands to his knees, and dramatically gasped for air after such an intense running session. After literally catching his breath, he quickly turned back around. The two Diamonds were still upon him, but now were stalking him at a slower speed.

"Alright Diamonds, here!" He pointed his right hand behind him, "Please, just step into the Waters and you'll be free of the corruption!" Even as they advanced further, the two Diamonds were silent for a moment, never letting him directly out of their sight. Steven found himself very much unnerved by just their facial expressions alone; they seemed indifferent, uncaring, with a hint of condescending. It filled him with a sense of dread, yet a different sort of dread from when this whole thing started. And it only exacerbated when he looked over their shoulders out into the distance. Malganon and Alexandrite were still locked in combat, yet while Alexandrite appeared to be moving slower, the monster did not appear the least bit fatigued.

After some deliberation, the Diamonds spoke in unison,

"We serve the Master... you will too."

As they stood side by side, they raised their arms that were closest to the other, and reached out towards Steven with widened fingers.

"No, please!" Steven braced himself behind his shield arm, "You don't have to be like this...!" Suddenly heard the sound of footsteps. As he looked up, he saw the two Diamonds look behind themselves as well.

Bloodstone charged straight at them, then spread her arms in an attempt to double clothesline them. The Diamonds moved swiftly to leap onto Bloodstone's outstretched arms and front flip high into the air, Bloodstone missing them completely. Her armored leg materialized to aid in her skidding to a halt before she could end up colliding with Steven. The two of them watched as the Diamonds slowly began their descent from their rising front flips.

"There! Now's the chance!" Spodumene called out with both Ruby Prime and Druzy flanking her, "Quickly, you two; I'll launch you up!"

"What?" Ruby Prime asked, while Druzy sported a look of genuine confusion, "What will that maneuver accomplish?"

"You'll have a better chance to affect them while airborne rather than on the ground!" Spodumene explained rapidly, "But hurry, there's only one shot at this before they land again!" Ruby Prime shrugged and positioned herself in front of Spodumene's right arms, then looked at Druzy.

"You, pay attention! Just allow Spodumene here to do her thing, then follow my lead!"

"What-?" Druzy started, then yelped as she was suddenly hoisted into the air to the fusion-born's head level with Ruby Prime. Spodumene cocked both sets of arms back, then propelled them forward with the force of compressed and rushed air. Now she was screeching as she flew straight up into the air towards the Diamonds, while beside her Ruby Prime was silent, yet focused as she sailed. The two drew closer to the airborne Diamonds when Ruby Prime called out to her again.

"Here we go! Get hold of a Diamond and throw them straight down, into your Waters!" Slowly, a smile crept over Druzy's face as she quickly realized.

"You... gems... CRAZY!" She reached out to grab onto the Yellow Diamond's back before she missed her mark. The body began to unfurl when Diamond realized something had caught her. Druzy quickly crouched her legs close to her chest, her feet on top of Diamond's back, and kicked off with all her might.

Ruby Prime on the other hand successfully grabbed White Diamond by the throat with her outstretched hand. She held fast as she tried to orient herself in the air, but Diamond was already acting. She stretched both hands out to grab for her. Ruby Prime stretched her right leg out against the other's left wrist to keep it at bay, but unfortunately wasn't fast enough to catch the right arm as it grabbed her own. Gritting her teeth, Ruby Prime tried to wrest her arm free, but White Diamond held strong. She looked over the shoulder to find that they were beginning to descend much faster.

"No... not this time..." Ruby Prime released her right hand from White Diamond's neck, then allowed a small, but durable gauntlet to form over it. Her gritted teeth widened and with a mighty cry as she brought her gauntlet fist against Diamond's arm with all the strength she could muster. To her surprise, White Diamond's arm actually shattered into thousands of shards at the point of impact! Even White Diamond's eyes themselves betrayed a little emotion of surprise as well. No longer under her grip, Ruby Prime stomped her feet down hard, sending the disarmed White Diamond sailing straight down for the water.

"That was... incredible!" Down below, Steven watched in awe of what just transpired. The two gems had done it, and now the Diamonds were heading straight into the Waters! Beside him, Bloodstone suddenly cried out. Druzy was falling back down rather fast, and the large gem rushed to the spot where she would land. She held out her arms and effortlessly caught her between her hands.

"Bloodstone!" Druzy squealed and gripped the bigger gem's head in a hug, then released to look at the bigger gem's look of concern, "Me fine, but these gems crazy!" At the same time, Ruby Prime also returned to ground level by landing perfectly on one knee, accompanied by two simultaneous water splashes.

"We did it! They're in!" Steven called out to everyone. Looking to the side, he could see Spodumene, Morganite, and Peridot rushing over and standing beside Ruby Prime.

"So we did..." Morganite said, "Spodumene, I have to admit: that was a rather strange, yet clever use of your air blasts."

"Thank you Morganite."

"So? Did that do it?" Ruby Prime asked as she turned to Morganite. The pink gem cautiously stared at the section of the Waters where the Diamonds had splash-landed.

"I'm... not entirely certain this time," she said. She watched the waterline carefully until bubbles suddenly rose from the initial splash zone. Her eyes widened in alarm and she took steps back, gesturing everyone else to do the same.

"Morganite? What's wrong?" Steven asked.

"That... has never happened before."


	31. Fight on Felucia pt5- Diamonds to dust

"What exactly is supposed to..." Peridot's own yelp of surprise cut off herself off as two figures emerged from beneath with loud splashes. The two Diamonds stood while facing away from the shore group, their faces darkened in shadow. Slowly they turned their heads so that their eyes could just barely be seen.

Nearly everyone gasped in a different way, for Diamond's eyes had changed dramatically from when they were just seen. No longer were they solid purple and devoid of all else, this time there were definite pupils, accented by lines of purple that stretched as thunderbolts from the center. The two looked slowly around at everything, as if now everything they laid their eyes on was new to them.

"Where... am I?" the Yellow Diamond's mouth moved. The Crystarra gems' ears perked up; Diamond's voice sounded different. No longer was it dual-toned, but her own natural voice could definitely be heard this time.

"Did you hear that? Her voice..." Spodumene said, "It sounds different."

"Maybe she's really been un-corrupted!" Steven said, "Hey, Diamonds! Over here!" The two looked up to the shoreline group and slowly turned their bodies in line with their heads. White Diamond's arm was still a shattered stump that hadn't reformed its shape yet. This was something that Morganite noted rather quickly.

"Her arm," she pointed out, "It should have been healed, but why is it still shattered?"

"Gems... what is going on here? Where am I?" White Diamond asked.

"Diamond! Are you really all there this time?" Ruby Prime asked, which earned her a flash of confusion from the two, "We've been fighting you just now while you were in a drone-like state!"

"I..." Yellow Diamond started, until Steven fell in her sights. In that moment, a familiar frown appeared on her face, "Rose!" It was White Diamond then that made deliberate action; she raised the shattered stump of her right arm in his direction, causing Steven to flinch. Morganite tensed as well and hoisted her weapon up to fire another ray field projector between the two.

However, nothing came further from Diamond's action. After a moment of stretching her stump at Steven, she suddenly stopped and looked down at it.

"What... is happening?" she asked. At the same time, Yellow Diamond looked down at her two hands she held up before her.

"I'm genuinely curious as well," Morganite said, "You stand within Felucia's Sacred Waters, which are able to heal and repair all ailments. Yet why do you two...?"

"These... Waters," Yellow Diamond looked down at the water that was waist level, "I see, that's what's causing this."

"I can feel this liquid's effects... weakening my enhancements..." White Diamond looked down at her arm stump while unintentionally showing it off to the shore group. Rather than before where Steven remembered seeing Blue Diamond's shattered arm regrow itself as purple in color, this time the stump appeared to shrink smaller and further into the shoulder.

"Sacred Waters," Druzy said, "Hurt Diamond?"

"She's being hurt?" Steven said, "But, that can't be right! Every other corrupted gem who's gone to the Sacred Waters was cleansed in it!" He looked back at his fellow gems, "We need to get them out of there-" His response was Morganite firing three small generators at the edge of the Waters, creating a ray field stretching at least a yard long between them and Diamonds. Looking at her, the pink gem did not say a word. She just shook her head slowly but firmly.

"Diamonds, focus!" Ruby Prime tried to force their attention back to her, "Don't you remember what's been going on this whole time?!" She pointed out to Malganon still doing battle with Alexandrite, "You both arrived to this planet with that thing, after you summoned it through tampering with the Crystal Spires on Crystarra! Everything you've done in such a short span of time is nothing short of criminal!" The Diamonds actually stopped to consider the words Ruby Prime hurled at them. It was also during this time that Yellow Diamond's fingers appeared to be... crumbling?

"I remember... we did what the master commanded," Yellow Diamond admitted. By now nearly all extremities on her hands had eroded and gave tiny splashes as the fell into the water, "No questions, yet no verbal commands... just pain, with a sense of what we had to do."

"Her hands..." Steven noted Yellow Diamond's crumbling hands with concern, "She's... crumbling. Why are they crumbling? What's happening to them?"

"I think..." Spodumene spoke up, "I remember when I was 'on' Malganon how Amethyst told me the Diamonds quickly corrupted gems into drones, yet were probably the same ones where being exposed to these Waters purified them completely, correct?"

"Um, I think so." Steven said as he tried to follow.

"But Diamond herself had been exposed to dark plasma for much longer, and in such concentration..." Steven's eyes slowly widened as the realization took hold. He studied the Diamonds carefully again; Yellow Diamond's erosion had moved all the way to the beginning of her forearms, while White Diamond's left hand was also beginning to erode.

"But... this can't be right," he said, "We were trying to help you, cure you of corruption! This shouldn't be happening to you at all! I'm sorry..." Both Diamond's eyes were on him as he stepped forward, "Even when you first met me on that ship and started attacking me, I never wanted to hurt you!"

"Hurt me-?" White Diamond started but suddenly lurched forward. Her gemstone in her chest now appeared to be flaking, and she instantly brought her left hand over it in vain to hold it in place. Unfortunately, the fast movement to her hand only exacerbated its own erosion, "Don't you see, Rose? You've done plenty to hurt me; your little Rebellion started everything." Steven's hands clenched, but he lowered his head with closed eyes. Hopelessness was starting to set into his mind. Before he could dwell on it though, he suddenly felt two hands on one of his shoulders. He looked up to his side to Spodumene looking at him.

"Enough of that nonsense!" someone's voice shouted. Steven turned to see Ruby Prime with a very angry face, glaring at the decomposing Diamonds, "What about you, for once? Was what happened any excuse for what 'you' did?! Submitting yourself to dark plasma, unleashing a millenia-old terror upon the galaxy, and for what? In a fit of rage?!" She stepped forward and pointed an accusatory finger at the two, "You were our leader! Our role model! All gems everywhere were to look up to you because you'd always know the right thing to do! You were the exemplary gem!" She finished her rant with a huff, and now Diamond's faces were that of genuine shock. In fact, all other present gems stared at her in surprise; they all knew Diamond, and no gem ever spoke that way to Diamond!

The crumbling on Yellow Diamond had now reached her head, framing her face. Yet in spite of it a small smile grew.

"Everything I did... I did for... my Authority..." Tiny yet thick particles of her body either dropped straight into the Waters, or were scattered in the wind. Even her gem itself fell apart into many pieces, the dark purple glow that had once permeated it entirely faded away completely.

By now White Diamond was barely left standing in one piece. She watched her yellow counterpart crumble away, her face betraying a hint of sadness. When there was nothing left of her anymore, she turned back to direction of her morbid on-lookers. She looked past them in the distance at Malganon fighting Alexandrite, and her face beheld wonder this time.

"The master- Malganon..." she spoke, "The power granted to me... promised a return to the norm... It made sense at the time..."

"Really?" Morganite inquired, "Does it still make sense now, from where you stand?"

"Now?" The crumbling of White Diamond's head worked its way around from the right side, "It seems it's no longer for me to decide..." Her mouth completely eroded away with the rest of her head. Within seconds, what was left of White Diamond's body, her gem included, crumbled into pieces into the Sacred Waters. The flakes that were once the Diamonds mixed and swirled together with the currents.

Suddenly, Morganite put a hand to her chest, and started breathing heavily.

"It's... it's over..." she said softly, then turned to her two gem partners, "Bloodstone, Druzy, it's finally over!" Her ray field gun fell from her hand as she reached out and wrapped her arms around one of Bloodstone's. The big gem smiled and gently patted her as well, while Druzy reached over from atop her and wrapped her arms around the top of Morganite's head.

"Excuse me, I must be unclear on something," Peridot noted from the display, "But are you exhibiting happiness from the... the 'destruction' of Diamond?!" Her voice grew more vocal and she spoke with the dislocated fingers of her limb enhancers pointing to where the Diamonds once stood. Druzy lifted her head off of Morganite's and looked at the olive gem.

"Diamond crazy, scary!" she said, "She'd hurt Felucians, just for Waters!"

"Well it..." Ruby Prime started, but her words died before she could speak, "It... doesn't matter now. That's one set of threats dealt with, now just for..." She turned completely around to where the giants fought. For once today, what she saw filled her with some relief rather than surprised horror, "Ah, excellent! Steven, your Alexandrite is really giving Malganon what for!" Steven quickly spun around, and also smiled at the sight before him. Alexandrite had all six of her hands, plus one gauntlet set, firmly gripping Malganon on both sides in various places. She held him between herself and the fleet's dreadnought, which appeared to be priming its main cannons to fire again.

"Alright, Alexandrite!" he called out.

The six armed giant grunted. Malganon barely appeared to be moving physically against her grips, and yet she felt such strong resistance from the light movements. Still, she was confident in herself with her feet planted wide and each hand having a firm grip on different parts of the monster's body.

"Gotcha this time..." she said through gritted teeth. Malganon's head was directly in front of her own, and she could see clearly the red glowing eyes that stared back at her angrily. The roars of protest it made were deafening, especially at such close proximity. She glanced over its shoulder between its head and the intact shoulder crystal to the large dreadnought ship, "Come on, do it!"

As if on que, the dreadnought's four cannons shot forth magnificent energy beams, accompanied by thunderous crackling that filled the air. Each one made a beeline straight for Malganon. Alexandrite pulled her head back to refocus on the monster in her grip, but was caught off guard when Malganon appeared to be... grinning?

"Why are- What?" she suddenly felt tight grips on her own upper set of arms. Looking to each side, Malganon's own clawed hands wrapped themselves around the width of her own and dug in. Pain shot up both of her arms but as she tried to register, she suddenly felt the two of them rising. She looked down with horror to find themselves being lifted off the ground, and... turning? "NO!" Alexandrite struggled to free her trapped arms from Malganon's hands, but the claws held fast. As they spun, she caught a quick glimpse of the energy beams drawing ever closer to them, except this time, she would be literally caught in the center!

"Can't get free! How..." Alexandrite said to herself, until her eyes perked up behind her visor, "Wait, could that work...? Well, it's worth a try." She concentrated hard, and her entire form transformed into bright light and began to re-shift. Suddenly, Malganon's claws clamped down hard as it realized there was nothing left to grab on to, while before it the white form rapidly shrunk and split back into three bodies. In no time, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were back, but quickly started falling back to the ground.

"I knew that would woooooorrrrkkkkk!" Amethyst cried out as she fell. All three of them glanced up to watch the energy beams strike true and obliterate Malganon's remaining intact shoulder crystal. This time, the monster cried out in definite pain and openly recoiled, sending hundreds of tiny crystal shards raining down above them.

"Well, what do we do nooooowwwww?!" Pearl called out. The three of them drew closer to the ground.

"Bring it in, you two!" Garnet said. Amethyst quickly summoned two whips and snapped them towards Garnet and Pearl. The crimson gem grabbed in her hand and quickly yanked herself closer, while Pearl also did the same, "Alright, hang on!" Amethyst and Pearl now wrapped their arms around to hold themselves tight against Garnet, thus freeing the taller gem's own arms. She quickly summoned her gauntlets and reached out to a nearby mushroom to steady their descent. Soon the trio had disappeared well beneath the mushroom forest canopy, well out of sight of Malganon's line of sight.

The wounded monster now made no effort to mask its pain and discomfort. Both of its shoulder crystals were reduced to mere shattered stumps, occasionally raining additional shards that broke away. It glanced back into the sky to find that the Crystarra fleet's capital ships were spreading out and advancing upon it. With a roar, it turned around and rose further into the sky away from them. The fleet quickly realized Malganon's intent to retreat and proceeded to fire their thrusters to keep up with it. They nearly got underway when suddenly the creature stopped short.

Quickly, Malganon suddenly spun around in midair to face the Crystarra fleet again. The ships also halted their advance, unprepared for the monster's seemingly new intentions. The gems within could see Malganon's blood red eyes as the broken stumps slowly began to glow red again. This time however, bolts of red lightning appeared to burst out from within the stump all around the body, a rather chaotic display from before. Each individual lightning bolt produced a more disjointed thunderclap in the air that varied from their sizes. There was a moment when Malgnaon's eyes flashed with confusion, when suddenly the lightning energy from the stumps physically exploded straight up above. The energy coalesced briefly, then slowly split itself apart in the air, producing a wide circle of pure black.

The effect was almost immediate; a small black hole materialized in the air, with Malganon being far too close to it. The other Crystarra ships were fortunate enough to be a greater distance away when they fired their reverse thrusters to the max. With the sudden appearance of a black hole's gravity, the surrounding air sparkled as the tiny broken shards that had once fallen from the shoulder stumps now floated back up and 'drained' into the hole. Malganon tried to fly lower, but it was too late, as its tail was already caught well within the hole's event horizon. Slowly, nearly inch by inch, it was sucked within. It roared repeatedly in protest as its claws slashed and snapped forward feebly at anything to grab onto. Finally, its head disappeared into the hole's black void, and its outstretched claw snapped one last time before being sucked in as well. Once there was nothing left, the black hole's perimeter drew back in on itself, decreasing in size until it was gone completely.


	32. Plans for a future

Steven groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. Just moments ago, it felt as if something was pulling on everything and everything. Everyone on the ground, even the grains of sand and drops of water were under the influence of a vacuum, slowly being drawn up from the ground. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the black hole vanished, leaving the planet's gravity to bring everything back down.

"Malganon... gone," Steven looked up at where the monster had been, "But, where's..." His face turned nervous as he realized Alexandrite was no longer there. He had seen her glow white and dispel her form, which meant that Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were out there somewhere!

He immediately took off running for the mushroom forest's edge and the ray field wall, while the other gems simply watched as they stood themselves back up.

"Steven?" Spodumene called out, "Where are you going?"

"They've gotta be out there!" he said, not looking back, "I have to find them! I have to make sure they're alright!"

"Give me a moment, I'll deactivate that section of..." Morganite called out from beside Spodumene. She looked down at her ray field device then glanced back up again. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the boy running straight at the ray field without slowing down at all! "What are you doing?! The ray field is still-!"

The gems and herself watched as Steven passed through the field harmlessly, even deliberately. The boy himself was instantly reminded of the pleasant massage-y feelings that these fields did to his body. It was still a funky feeling, until he snapped himself out of it to remind himself what he was doing. His gems were out there, at least that was his hope, so he had to get to them!

After one last shudder, he took off running for the forest edge. Before him, the gem warriors had picked themselves up as well. At the moment they were either finishing off the small handful of gem drones that still remained, or were cheering from seeing Malganon's 'defeat'. Any other time Steven would've stopped to relish in their joy with them, but not right now. He continued to run right past him. Off to his side, he even saw Jasper and that Tiger's Eye gem finish off a drone, both of them sporting smiles that he never thought he'd ever see Jasper with, ever.

"Yeah! We've done it!" Jasper exclaimed, clapping her partner's back. As Steven nearly cleared the group, the last single gem to be seen was Citrine, who quickly noticed his approach.

"Steven?" she said, but the boy did not stop. The mushroom forest edge drew closer and closer.

"Garnet! Pearl! Amethyst!" he put his hands to his mouth as he called out. He looked, but couldn't see any movement near the edge. As he finally reached it, and his hopes were beginning to waver, footsteps from within drew his attention. Even as he panted to catch his breath, he watched as three figures emerged from the obscuring fauna before him, "Guys!"

The three gems heard the boy's voice. With bright smiles, they brought themselves closer to meet Steven as he jumped into their arms all at once. The four of them embraced deeply, as if fearful that something would try to pull them apart again.

"Steven, you're safe..." Pearl whispered.

"Never-mind me, you guys were amazing!" Steven said as they broke apart, "Seeing Alexandrite beat up Malganon like that, and when you almost were blasted but then you de-fused..." Steven stopped suddenly as he caught breath he didn't realize he was lacking.

"Yeah, that was something, wasn't it?" Amethyst said, "So, after all that... is it really over?" Garnet looked up at the clear sky. Crystarra ships were slowly floating into view, but this time there was no Malganon to be seen anywhere.

"My guess..." she mused, "Yes, I'd say it's very much over."

* * *

The following hours were hectic, to say the least.

Once the fighting and cheering of the gem warriors had concluded, and the resulting gems of the once drones had been purified, everyone was summoned together by Ruby Prime, Citrine, and Spodumene. The conflict and fighting was indeed over, but an intense session of clean-up was in order, even without Morganite's insistence for one in the first place.

The first thing she pointed out was the destroyed and crashed Crystarra capital ships. Citrine countered the absurdity and tedium of every single crash site on planet being seen to, until Spodumene reminded them of the remaining fleet's ships still in the air. Of the dozen capital ships that had initially arrived, there still remained a greater number of intact and functional ones to the destroyed. This would easily allow for multiple ships to handle single crash sites.

While the ships handled their cleanup from the air, Ruby Prime and Citrine directed gem warriors to the crash sites from the ground. The hope was to scour the areas to find the gems of the members from the ships. To their surprise, some of the native Felucians accompanied them to aid in their search, and had actually managed to discover some intact gems. Steven volunteered himself and his gems in assisting, but when Pearl adamantly refused, he found himself conceding this time. Unfortunately, in the end a mere handful were found and recovered from each site altogether. Many other gems had been either so completely shattered that tiny individual pieces were missing, or whole gems themselves were not found at all. Despite the hard efforts of both parties, many gems were declared missing in action that day.

After hours of work, the Crystarra ships removing all traces of destroyed ships to be salvaged into their own, gem warriors recovering fellow gems to be healed in the Sacred Waters, it was eventually all completed. The Crystarra fleet's ships regrouped back higher into the sky above the ground, while everyone else gathered together down below. Morganite, Bloodstone, and Druzy stood with their Felucians behind them in front of the village, while the three council members stood directly before them, Steven and his gems to the side, and the gem warriors behind them facing the village.

"So, gems of Crystarra," Morganite said, "While I- we, are grateful for the albeit uncalled for aid in defeating this monster, 'Malganon'... I'm still curious as to your further motives. It seems our planet is no longer a secret to anyone..." She spoke carefully yet earnestly. A few of the Felucians behind her clicked nervously as well.

"I myself would like to know how such a planet was never identified until now..." Citrine said to herself, "Would you happen to know, Spodumene?" The fusion twitched her head to almost look to her, but stopped and held her silence. This was a topic to further discuss within Crystarra's R&D walls.

"I'm not entirely sure, gems of 'this planet'," Ruby Prime spoke up, "Just recently I had extended a pardon to Steven and his band of Earth gems there, and all of a sudden your group is discovered..." She paused for a moment, "Still, I feel the thing to do right now is contact Emerald and Chrysoprase. They'll want to know of what has happened here anyway." She looked at her taller counterparts. With a nod from Spodumene followed by a nod from Citrine, they walked apart from each other while standing facing inward, and again fiddled with the diamond shapes on the fronts of their uniforms to enable the quantum projections. Just like before, a hologram of a round table appeared before them, but a look of confusion graced each council member's faces; the other two gems holograms did not appear.

"That's odd, they should have-" Spodumene started but stopped short. As if entering from a veil of void, the hologram forms of Emerald and Chrysoprase stood before them, "Oh, there you two are! We bring news of update regarding Malganon!" At the mention of the monster, Chrysoprase and Emerald's faces snapped out of their strange downcast looks to attentiveness.

 _"Malganon?"_ the cream gem said, _"What news do you bring?"_ From that point, Ruby Prime, Spodumene, and Citrine told the tale of the battle with Malganon. They began at the beginning with Citrine's group's initial landing on Felucia, Spodumene's exploits with Pearl and Amethyst atop Malganon's body, all the way to Ruby Prime and the warrior gems combating against corrupted gems and the two Diamonds themselves. Finally they covered the end with Malganon apparently being sucked into a black hole that had appeared above it in the sky. Chrysoprase was skeptical at first upon hearing the black hole, and the other three were uncertain themselves if they thought she believed that detail. Still, she appeared to be relieved nonetheless from hearing that Malganon was no longer an immediate threat.

Emerald on the other hand beheld a different reaction. When the group had mentioned the fates of White and Yellow Diamonds, her downcast look from before returned.

"So now it is over," Spodumene concluded, "Malganon itself, the gem drones, even the Diamonds have been-"

 _"Actually, council members,"_ Chrysoprase suddenly cut in, _"I'm afraid we must reveal something to you. Something has happened here on Crystarra."_ The other three gems perked in alarm.

"What?! What happened? Is it under attack?" Ruby Prime demanded.

 _"At the moment, no..."_ Emerald said, _"It's just... I... Oh dear..."_ She buried her face in the palms of her hands.

 _"Perhaps an explanation is in order..."_ Chrysoprase continued for her.

* * *

 _Klaxons blared their deafening call throughout the halls. Nearly everyone within the Citadel had to be on alert by now, if not all of Crystarra!_

 _Normally Emerald and Chrysoprase would be running somewhere safer in the event of such emergencies. But when news reached them that something had happened in the holding cells, they looked at each other and instantly knew. Now here they were, running down the halls towards the source of the disturbance, a small band of gem guards trailing directly behind them._

 _They then rounded the corner, and were immediately greeted by the sight of destruction. The door frame that once held an automatic door was shredded completely, the door itself no where to be seen. It was as if some monstrous beast_ _from within_ _had forced its way out._

 _"By Geode..." one of the guards uttered, "What's happened here?" The group moved to look inside the room, only to find it no better inside than out. Diamond was definitely missing, and there were also a number of strangely perfect-shaped holes scattering the room, a trail leading from her cell to a nearby destroyed console. The two Holly Blue Agates were nowhere to be seen, that is until one of the guards identified their gems on the ground. One was seen next to the shredded console, the other was beside the containment field itself._

 _"She's escaped," Emerald said softly, "And now is..." Head snapped up to the other side hallway leading away from the holding cells, "She's still on the run! Hurry!" She didn't even wait for the others, and they were surprised when she took off so suddenly._

 _"You two wait here!" Chrysoprase ordered two of the guards, "Emerald wait!" She herself ran with the other guards to catch up with Emerald, but the green gem had a strong head start._

 _Emerald ran as fast as she could. This hallway was linear by this point, with an exit that would lead straight to the outside courtyard, and even the shipyards beyond. Realization hit her and she summoned her gem's power to transform into a transparent mist. In her vapor form she floated much faster and was unhindered by neither obstacles nor fellow gems. To a strange credit, Blue Diamond left a very clear trail to follow: floor-breaking footprints that ruined the otherwise pristine appearance of the floor and wall's architecture. The exiting door she finally came to was also shattered to a lesser extent, and she slipped through that with ease._

 _Finally outside, Emerald continued to follow the trail... Until she sensed her, at the shipyards near a smaller ship. Her form floated hard and fast as it was able. When she finally materialized her solid, physical form, she saw Blue Diamond, scrambling to enter the cockpit's seat of a Crystarra fighter._

 _"Diamond, stop!" Emerald pleaded. Blue Diamond by now had taken her seat, but still slowly turned to regard her._

 _"I can't..." she spoke with pain and tension in her voice, "I need the Master... that is all that matters."_

 _"No, it's not," Emerald carefully took a step closer, "Malganon, the dark plasma, none of it is good for you! For any gem!" One more step and she reached her hand out to her, "But we can help you. I can help you, here. We will cure you of this, somehow..." Blue Diamond watched the green gem plead for her, her eyes beginning to grow glassy, and she sighed._

 _"We both know there is... no future for me here, anymore, no matter if I'm cured or not..." she spoke with what sounded like actual clarity to Emerald for the first time in a long time, "After what I've done... But at least with Mas- Malganon... there's a chance... I'll be destroyed..." Tears were now falling freely down Emerald's face, and her hand lowered back to her side._

 _"Please... don't go," she whimpered. The fighter's engines slowly roared to life. The cockpit's glass slowly began to close._

 _"Goodbye Emerald... my dear friend..." With a snap and a sealing of air pressure, the cockpit window was secured. Emerald didn't even evade as the fighter floated off the ground and effortlessly flew up and over her. She just watched as the gem she once served, looked up to, and even admired, drew further and further away. Time soon lost its meaning in such short moments. She almost didn't even hear the sound of footsteps approaching her, much less see Chrysoprase and the gem guards._

 _"Emerald!" the cream gem exclaimed, "What happened?!" In a moment of hesitation, Emerald tried to dry her eyes quickly._

 _"I couldn't stop her... she's gone..." she said, choosing her words carefully. She was sure something happened after that, but everything became a blur to her- Chrysoprase's frantic shouts and the gem guards scrambling for follow up searches. She couldn't stop thinking of the last words her Diamond had said to her, her now most treasured memory..._

* * *

"She's ESCAPED?!" Ruby Prime struggled and failed to keep from shouting. In fact, everyone present had heard what happened and grew vocal.

"Diamond?!"

"She's still alive?"

"But, wasn't she here?"

 _"Unfortunately,"_ Chrysoprase admitted, _"And despite our hardest efforts to find her again, I'm afraid we've concluded that she's left Crystarra completely. There was no indication to her current whereabouts, just ramblings about dark plasma!"_ Ruby Prime was left fuming, Spodumene and Citrine were left to contemplate, and all other gems were still voicing their concerns.

"Blue Diamond's escaped?" Steven asked, then looked at his gems, "When will it end? It's like one bad thing just leads to another!" The three of them shrugged, unable to find words.

"This... has gone on for far too long," Ruby Prime spoke up, gaining the attention of her fellow council members, "I move that we make this official- Blue Diamond must be declared an outlaw, to be destroyed and shattered on sight!" A series of gasps came from the other four, with Emerald's being the most pointed. In that moment she opened her mouth to protest, and was surprised to hear words she was about to say from somewhere else.

"What? Ruby Prime!" Steven drew looks as he stepped closer into the gem council members' view, "You can't be serious! Shatter Blue Diamond? We could bring her here to the Sacred Waters, and-"

"Steven don't be foolish," Ruby Prime stretched an arm to indicate to all other gems not standing at their table, including the Felucian and Earth gems, "Every single gem present here has witnessed the catastrophe created by Malganon, with Diamond herself assisting with! You've seen it with your own eyes as well- Diamond has become a danger to everyone and everything, no matter of what mind she is. Besides, you've also seen what these Waters did to her already..." Steven's teeth gritted as memories of his encounters with Diamond flooded his mind. He so desperately wanted to counter this argument, but the futility of it became too much.

 _"Well I for one am inclined to agree,"_ Chrysoprase said. Heads then turned to Spodumene and Citrine who in turned looked at each other. One after the other they nodded their heads as well. Emerald on the other hand gave the softest, most unenthusiastic of nods of the group.

"Let it be known then, confirmed by the Council of the Galactic Gem Society," Ruby Prime raised her voice and spun completely around to face her fellow gems, "Former monarch of gems Blue Diamond is hereby declared an outlaw! No mercy, no quarter shall be given to her upon discovery!"

"Man," Steven said quietly, "Ruby Prime can be so... harsh."

"Yeah, but you can't exactly blame her," Amethyst reminded. The massive nervous murmuring of the gem warriors eventually grew into that of confirmation and finally agreement.

"But, where is she now?" one of them spoke up.

"Yeah, how will we know where she is?" another one said.

"I believe... I have a proposal of sorts," Citrine said, "Within such short amount of time a galaxy-threatening phenomenon nearly endangered everything, with now Blue Diamond on the run as well."

"What do you propose?" Ruby Prime asked.

"I'm thinking that..." At this point her gaze drifted to the Felucians and their gems, then over to Steven and his gems, "It may be necessary for gems to extend their reach, in the interests of preventing future calamities. Here are two factions of gems who have strong footholds at different locations of the galaxy..." Both Morganite and Pearl perked up from the attention being brought to them at once.

"Excuse me?" they both spoke, mildly surprising each other.

"If you are inviting us back into your, 'Galaxy of Gems' or whatever, then our answer is no!" Pearl spoke firmly, "We are quite content to exist as our own and away from you."

"Um, yes well, ours is largely the exact same," Morganite added. Bloodstone and Druzy gave their various grunts of agreement.

"I understand that," Citrine replied firmly, "In fact, you've both made that abundantly clear. I merely suggest... contact be maintained in the interest of exchanging information, possible sightings of future dangers and all that." A small number of murmurs could be heard from the gem warriors.

"Contact, with gem deserters?" one of them spoke softly. Both Pearl and Morganite lessened their tension at the realization of the implication.

"If it means extending our reach of protection, that sounds like something I can agree to it," Ruby Prime said.

"So you're suggesting a form of instant communications between gems akin to our own via quantum projections?" Spodumene asked Citrine.

"Essentially," Citrine replied, "Along with the possibility of... gems establishing themselves at other planets, to expand this reach..."

The fusion turned to her gem friends from Earth, "Steven, Garnet, would you all approve of something as that?"

"Come on, Pearl, how bad could some 'long-distance calls' really be?" Amethyst asked. With Steven smiling, both he and Garnet gave nods as well.

"Very well, we'll accept," she relented.

"So long as you respect certain terms and conditions, I suppose it would not hurt to accept as well," Morganite agreed as well.

 _"Then it is settled,"_ Chrysoprase announced, _"The Galactic Gem Society will expand its communications web across the galaxy at different planets."_

"All in the interests of safeguarding against potential high-level threats and galactic calamities," Ruby Prime said, "So let it be known."

"Let it be known." All council members spoke and their gems all glowed in unison.

* * *

The process for allowing said communications was rather simple, in theory. After Spodumene presented two sets of quantum projectors to both planetary parties, she explained in rather great and heavy detail their exact functions. Morganite and Pearl, both being the gems who accepted them on behalf of each group, listened and absorbed the information well. Their companions on the other hand tried but failed to follow along.

After the explanations, Pearl insisted that she and her own be allowed to return to Earth immediately. Spodumene volunteered that they be allowed to do so via the transport ship that Steven and Garnet had arrived with Citrine in. There was hesitance from the council at first at simply giving them a Crystarra ship, but they ultimately agreed, seeing this as adequate compensation for their services.

Thus Steven and his group made their way to back to the shuttle, with the boy casually saying his goodbye to the gems and gem warriors he passed. The majority of them watched him pass by with confusion. Even Jasper and Tiger's Eye were no different, with the former no longer gracing them with her sneer as she'd done before. Seeing them about the enter the ship, Peridot had approached them with the offer of helping them learn how the ship was piloted, but Pearl declined on their behalf. Steven watched on as she walked away.

"You know, I thought she was kind weird and scary before," he said, "But, I think I'm starting to like that Peridot."

"Wait, wait!" The four of them turned. Spodumene was rushing over to join them. Given that they were about to enter the ship when she called for them, Pearl made an assumption.

"It's alright, Spodumene, I already told that Peridot that I'm pretty familiar by now with the proper-"

"Oh, no no, that's not it," Spodumene waved a hand in front of her, "I just have something important to say, to all of you. While I absolutely thank you on behalf of Crystarra gems for what you've done for our planet earlier, I... I must apologize to you immensely." Steven and his gems looked between each other with confused faces.

"Apologize? What are you sorry for?" Amethyst asked.

"For all of this, what you've been through!" Spodumene explained, "I may have formally requested your aid at the beginning, with what was supposed to be a simple mission in an effort to reclaim our planet." Her face grew more downcast as she spoke, "But... I could tell, you've all been hurt, risked being torn apart by forces outside your control."

"Spodumene," Garnet said.

"It's just, I never meant for any of that to happen to you!" Her now glassy eyes looked back and forth between the four, "I had estimated the risks dealing with Diamond to be more than likely, but no one, least of all myself could have accounted for Malganon, and what it was capable of-!" Amethyst reached up to hold one of Spodumene's hands in her own, stopping her from rambling further.

"Calm down, Spodes, I'm not upset with you... I don't think any of us are." Spodumene looked at the face of the purple gem, then at each face of her three friends. None of them showed any resentment in their faces, just simple smiles.

"You're our friend, Spodumene," Garnet said, "We would have helped you with whatever was troubling you. Steven made sure we remembered that, didn't you?"

"Of course!" Steven spoke up, "You told us Crystarra was in danger, not just for you but all gems who lived there! Of course we would've helped you!" He looked back around at the planet they currently stood upon, "And hey, getting to travel through space, come to strange new planets, meet its new peoples, and even its own gem protectors as well was just a bonus!"

One by one, their faces turned to Pearl. Her face scrunched up lightly, mentally debating the words she was about to say. She then closed her eyes tightly, shook her head, and launched herself into Spodumene's arms. The yellow fusion was surprised at first by this sudden action, but nonetheless returned the hug as well.

"Hey, you know what? Let me in on this..." Amethyst coyly said. She moved closer to wrap her own arms around the two. Steven followed right after, as did Garnet from the outside. The group of five held their embrace, not caring who could be watching them at this moment.

"Spodumene... thank you..." Pearl's sniffling voice could be heard, "And I'm sorry too... for being short with you at times..."

"It's alright Pearl... I don't hold that against you either..." Spodumene sniffled herself. A few more long moments passed when they finally broke apart, "Well, I believe you wanted to return to Earth, so I won't hold you back any further."

"You'll be sticking around here, then?" Garnet asked.

"Yes, at least to oversee our own gems' safe passage off this planet and back to Crystarra. But also..." Spodumene glanced over her shoulder at the pink Morganite, speaking with a pair of Felucians, "There's a conversation that's long overdue..." Pearl activated the ship's door this time, and she and Amethyst climbed aboard.

"Well then, I wish you the best of luck," Garnet clapped one hand against Spodumene's shoulder, then moved to enter the ship as well. Following behind her was Steven, until he suddenly stopped short after remembering something.

"Wait, Spodumene!" he spoke up, "I guess I'll need to give you this 'air-collecting helmet' back..." One hand pointed to the transparent pink dome that encircled his head. Before he could press the button that would deactivate the field itself, Spodumene held up a hand to stop him.

"That won't be necessary; I insist that you keep it," she said, "It might serve you further in the future, or even as a memento..."

"Oh, that's a good idea!" Steven agreed, then waved his hand in the air, "Bye Spodumene!" The fusion watched as the door sealed tightly between them. She stepped back a few feet to allow adequate room for the ship's takeoff sequence. The engines soon roared to life and carried the ship straight into the air. She watched the ship then pull back and launch a straight course for the sky above. It soon became a mere speck in the sky when it suddenly shot itself instantaneously out into space.

Spodumene shook her head; they had finally left now, and now she had to return to her fellow council gems... right after she had her chat with Morganite.

* * *

"So you're really sure you know how to fly?" Amethyst asked while sitting in one of the chairs. Out every single view-port, the familiar sight of lines of stars rushing past them could be seen.

"I believe so Amethyst," Pearl replied, "It seems flying one of these larger transport ships is not that much different from flying a fighter; their principles are still the same." She fiddled with controls for a moment longer until she was apparently satisfied, "Alright, our estimated time return to Earth will be in about... thirty minutes."

"Ugh, that long?" Amethyst groaned.

"Man, this Space Field Trip turned into a real big adventure, huh?" Steven mused, "I can't wait to tell Dad, Lion, Connie, maybe even Connie's parents-" He was suddenly cut off as he failed to suppress a yawn. This caused Garnet and Pearl to look over at him.

"Steven? Are you alright?" Pearl asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," the boy softly replied, "Felt like that yawn came out of nowhere, though-" Another yawn, just as strong as before crept up on him, "Actually... I think I'm gonna... rest my eyes... for a bit..." No sooner had he leaned his head to the side of his chair and closed his eyes, then he was already snoring lightly. The three gems watched with slightly amused looks.

"Whoa, he went out like a light!" Amethyst noted, then gave a yawn herself, "But he's got the right idea... wake me up when we get there, kay?" She didn't wait for a response as she too closed her eyes and started snoring a little louder than Steven.

"Well that was... unprecedented," Pearl noted.

"After everything we've been through," Garnet said, "I'd say we've all earned a bit of rest."

"I suppose so," Pearl admitted, "Just not me, though; somebody has to pilot us home safely." Garnet gave a light chuckle and watched the stars zoom by in the view-ports. They provided their own form of illumination, both in the cabin, and for an appearance of the outside as well. A beautiful star-way that would light the way towards home, their journey's end.


	33. Epilogue

From within space itself, above the view of the magnificent blue and green planet Earth, something could be seen silhouetted against the planet's light. A strange form of a creature, bearing a fur-coated body, six small legs, massively blue compound eyes, and an even larger set of wings. The beautifully orange-yellow wings propelled this massive insect through space, leaving the planet Earth's orbit rather than entering it.

Mothra's wings flapped hard and fast as they could carry her. Time was of the utmost importance. The massive meteorite that would spell Earth's doom was fast approaching, and now that Battra was gone, the responsibility of stopping it fell to her.

She felt a deep sorrow within her being; Battra had become a good friend to her, and his life was cut tragically too short. How ironic as well that its life probably would have ended just the same had it been the one to fulfill its original mission and stop the meteorite instead.

The giant moth shook its head lightly and continued to flap its wings. She knew exactly where the space rock was currently, and all she need do was alter its course. As she flew, she barely noticed flakes of some substance falling off of her legs and broke away from her course. She paid it no mind, the lives of Earth were more important than some monster's skin flakes.

The flakes however were scattered to the great void of space, no two sets of them floating too close together. They would continue to drift in the vacuum possibly for all eternity... That is until a force acted upon it. They were suddenly drawn towards something- a cosmic power that was blacker than space itself, with an unrivaled pull of gravity. The black hole absorbed all that fell within its event horizon, these strange skin flakes were no exception.

When they were completely gone from sight, it was only a few moments following that something could actually be seen within the black hole! Appearing as the tiniest and faintest of dots, a small glowing light of purple could just barely be seen. It flickered a few times until it stopped. Some time passed, until in the deep darkness of the black hole, two more glowing dots suddenly flashed. They were not purple this time, but bright blood red, with dark slits in the middle of each one.

* * *

-And there you have it, Steven Universe in Space has officially concluded. This has been such a journey that took me through many leaps and bounds every step of the way, let me tell you. While I am still melancholic that to this day this story has not received a single review, it's still my hope that people will still find it and enjoy it regardless. Will this story be getting a sequel, effectively making this a multi-storied series? Eh, I don't know; I'll really have to see. There are some ideas rattling around in my head about where I could take this, but I'll really have to see. But until then, this has been Universal Lizard signing off!-


End file.
